Gun lobby cries betrayal as Trump flirts with control

Attempts to change gun legislation will be difficult due to president's backing by NRA, writes Richard Lardner

DIPLOMACY PUT ON ICE: As Ivanka Trump watched the speed skating during her visit to South Korea for the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, China’s foreign ministry issued a demand that Donald Trump stop enacting unilateral sanctions against Chinese entities and individuals. Beijing intervened after the US said it was imposing its largest package of sanctions to pressure North Korea. China has lodged “stern representations” with the US over sanctions, whose targets include shipping and energy firms in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. China “demands the US side immediately stops such relevant mistaken actions to avoid harming bilateral co-operation in the relevant area”, the ministry said.

As US President Donald Trump talked last week about banning "bump stocks" and curbing young people's access to guns, the gun owners and advocates who helped propel his political rise talked about desertion and betrayal.

Trump's flirtation with a set of modest gun control measures drew swift condemnation from gun groups, hunters and sportsmen who banked on the president to be a stalwart opponent to any new gun restrictions. In his pledge to make schools safer and curb gun violence after the massacre at a Florida high school, gun advocates see a weakening resolve from the man they spent millions on to elect.