On March 1st, two weeks after the gun massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, Donald Trump told a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House that he favored “comprehensive” gun-control legislation, which would include raising the legal age for purchasing assault-style weapons, closing the loopholes in the background-check system, and making it easier for police to obtain court orders to confiscate firearms owned by people with mental problems. Trump even expressed interest in a bill sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, that would ban assault weapons, and he vowed to stand up to the National Rife Association, telling the assembled members of Congress, “They have great power over you people, but they have less power over me.”

Trump’s bravado lasted for a few hours. Later the very same day, he and Vice-President Mike Pence met with Chris Cox, the executive director of the N.R.A.’s lobbying arm, who tweeted immediately afterward, “POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control.” The White House has now confirmed that Cox was correct.

On Sunday, Administration officials said that the President was dropping his call for raising the age requirement for gun purchases. They also indicated that Trump has withdrawn his endorsement—issued at the March 1st meeting—for a Senate bill that would extend background-check requirements for online gun purchases. (The White House will continue to support a weaker background-check bill sponsored by Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, and Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat.) And, rather than pushing for some immediate legislation, the White House announced that it was setting up a federal commission—a classic stalling tactic—to be headed up by Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, who told CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” on Sunday night, that she sees merit in Trump’s crackpot idea of arming teachers.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Trump tried to put a positive spin on his retreat, saying, “Very strong improvement and strengthening of background checks will be fully backed by White House.” In another tweet, he said, “On 18 to 21 Age Limits, watching court cases and rulings before acting.”

For anyone who has followed the gun-control non-debate in Washington over the past two decades, and has observed Trump’s fourteen-month tenure in the White House, this outcome was sadly predictable. The N.R.A.’s hold over Congress, and particularly the Republican Party, is a textbook case of political capture. If a G.O.P.-controlled Congress refused to do anything in 2013, after twenty first graders were shot in Newtown, Connecticut, why, in 2018, would a G.O.P.-controlled Congress act any differently in response to the Parkland massacre?

Further Reading New Yorker writers respond to the Parkland school shooting.

At the White House meeting, a number of lawmakers suggested to Trump that he alone had the credibility with gun owners to make something significant happen. That turned out to be wishful thinking. It has long been clear that Trump doesn’t necessarily speak for the Trump Administration on policy matters. In some instances, he doesn’t even speak for himself—or, rather, for the future self that emerges after Cox or others have reminded him about the rules of Republican politics.

With the tariffs on aluminum and steel that the President announced last week being practically the sole exception, the Trump Administration has governed in accordance with G.O.P. orthodoxy. On taxes, judges, energy and environmental policy, banking regulation, and now guns, the big Republican interest groups and donor groups have had their way, and Trump has gone along with them. Although he likes to portray himself as a political outsider who isn’t beholden to anybody, he’s really a patsy.

If that were all there was to report, it would be too depressing to contemplate: business as usual in a failing democracy. However, Washington isn’t the only place where Americans are demanding action. In Florida, last Friday, Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, signed into law a bill that will raise the legal age for purchases of long guns to twenty-one and impose a three-day waiting period on some gun purchases. This was the first time in thirty years that Florida had passed any gun restrictions, and it was a direct response to the Never Again movement, which was founded by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

To be sure, the Florida bill stopped well short of restoring the Clinton Administration’s ban on assault weapons, which is what the students have demanded. And, in a concession to the N.R.A. and Trump, the measure established a program for arming teachers and other school personnel in areas where local authorities approve of this step. But, for all the Florida bill’s shortcomings, its passage did prove that popular engagement can still have an effect, even in an N.R.A. stronghold such as Florida.

Like many of the G.O.P. politicians who control the state legislature in Tallahassee, Scott is a longtime shill for the gun lobby. In 2014, the N.R.A. said that he had “signed more pro-gun bills into law—in one term—than any other Governor in Florida history.” Last year, he appeared at the N.R.A.’s national convention and reaffirmed his support for the group’s twisted reading of the Second Amendment. In short, Scott is a wretched specimen. But he’s also considering a bid for the U.S. Senate later this year. When he saw the outrage among Floridians after the Parkland shooting, which was articulated and converted into demands for action by the classmates of the dead, he knew that he had to do something, even if it irked the N.R.A.

After Scott signed the bill, a parent of one of the victims, Tony Montalto, issued a statement saying that the measure was just “the beginning of the journey” to prevent more school massacres. Further progress will require sustained engagement and activism throughout the country, beginning with widespread participation in the National School Walkout, this Wednesday, and the March for Our Lives demonstration, in Washington, D.C., on March 24th.

Over the weekend, some of the Never Again leaders appealed to businesses across America to sponsor local schools, and purchase flights or bus rides, so that more people can get to Washington for the march. “For this to really be Never Again, we all have to stand together,” Cameron Kasky, one of the group’s leaders, said in a public statement that he and seventeen others signed. “Students, businesses, survivors, elected officials, leaders . . . we invite everyone to participate in our movement, even if you don’t agree with everything we say.”

A President who was serious about tackling the gun plague would have embraced the Parkland students and joined with them to exert pressure on Congress. Not this President: he never fails to disappoint. That, however, is no reason to give up the fight, and, thankfully, the Parkland students have no intention of doing so.