However, the real problem here, says Rubio, is that certain members of the "msm" are allegedly muddying the debate by conflating semiautomatic weapons with "rapid-fire" "machine guns," the manufacture of which has been illegal in the United States for over 30 years. Even if true—curiously, he doesn't cite a specific offending person or organization in his complaint—his decision to harp on this point is roughly analogous to someone whose home is engulfed in flames getting irritated at the firefighters for referring to it among themselves as a "condominium" and not a "townhouse."

Rubio goes on to repeat the same baffling argument he asserted at the CNN town hall, which is that because a specific proposed assault-weapons ban would not prohibit the sales of all deadly weapons, there is no point in banning some of them. The idea that legislators who are aware of this problem—a group that includes Rubio!—might consider drafting a more comprehensive bill has still apparently not occurred to him.

On the bright side, the Parkland kids who dragged him on Wednesday are exactly as good at Twitter as their senator is bad at it.

The most helpful thing Marco Rubio's staffers can do for him today is throw his phone into the Potomac.