President Donald Trump briefly raised eyebrows Monday when he tweeted an endorsement of stronger background checks, tied to immigration reform, after the nightmarish mass shootings over the weekend.
But skeptical Republicans familiar with Trump's mercurial nature didn't rush out to embrace the idea.
"There aren't many Republicans who trust that the president won't change his mind," said one senior GOP lawmaker.
Not 30 minutes later, Trump used a White House address to call for changing mental health laws and implementing "red flag" laws — far more modest proposals — while condemning white supremacy and avoiding the topic of background checks altogether.
"Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun," Trump said. "I am open and ready to listen and discuss all ideas that will actually work and make a very big difference."
Congressional Republicans are ignoring Democratic demands for stricter gun control after at least 31 people were killed over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. They're far more comfortable blaming the increasingly frequent horrors on problems with mental health or American culture than in taking on the National Rifle Association and conservative grassroots activists.
So Trump's lightning-fast shift in focus may give some cover to Republicans, who want to stand with the president and remain aligned with GOP orthodoxy.
Trump's allies on Capitol Hill quickly mobilized to affirm the president's stance.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he would introduce legislation encouraging more states to adopt red flag laws, which allow local law enforcement officials to temporarily seize guns from people who may pose a risk to themselves or others.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had cited video games on Sunday as a potential cause of violence in the country. On Monday, the California Republican praised the president for condemning racism, bigotry and white supremacy in his Monday morning address.
"Couldn't agree more, Mr. President," McCarthy said in a tweet that marked his only response to Trump's comments.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement Monday that GOP senators are "prepared to do our part" to answer the president's call and work in a bipartisan fashion.
The Kentucky Republican also said he encouraged several committee chairmen, including Graham, to "engage in bipartisan discussions of potential solutions." But he made no promises about taking any action on the floor and dismissed "partisan theatrics and campaign-trail rhetoric," in a shot presumably aimed at Democrats hammering him.
Meanwhile, Congress is out for its August recess, with some GOP lawmakers abroad on congressional delegation trips, which has also given them cover from having to respond to Trump — or reporters — directly. Those who have responded largely sidestepped questions about their position on strengthening background checks.
Democrats are vowing to keep the pressure on the GOP.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a joint statement urging McConnell to bring the Senate back to Washington and pass legislation from the Democratic-controlled House requiring universal background checks.
Democrats also panned Trump's initial idea of pairing changes to background check laws with immigration reform.
"I thought the president's tweet this morning somehow linking immigration reform to this issue was obscene," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) at a news conference in Illinois. "There is no connection — putting kids in cages at the border for longer periods of time will not stop mass shootings in America."
Some Democrats expressed hope that Trump would follow through on his tweet, even as they acknowledged he's made similar promises before, only to retreat under pressure from the right.
"One of the things that we need to see is if the president is really serious about this. Is he going to bring that pressure to bear upon the Senate?" said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), who has written numerous gun control bills, in an interview. "I want to take him at his word today."
Democratic leaders aren't holding their breath after Trump failed to mention background checks in his speech.
"It took less than three hours for the president to back off his call for stronger background check legislation," Schumer and Pelosi said in their statement. "When he can't talk about guns when he talks about gun violence, it shows the president remains prisoner to the gun lobby and the NRA."
The House already passed a sweeping bill that would require basic background checks for all gun sales, which won support from just eight Republicans. Another bill would close the so-called Charleston loophole, extending the federal background check window from three days to 10.
Those bills, which passed in February, have languished in the Senate, and McConnell has shown no interest in taking them up.
Some Senate Republicans have instead focused on narrower legislation promoting red flag laws, which have been adopted in several states and the District of Columbia.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham chairs, held a hearing earlier this year on such laws; his plan would create a federal grant program to help law enforcement.
"I spoke with the president this morning about this proposal and he seems very supportive," Graham said in a statement.
The NRA says it supports the concept of red flag laws but has opposed all of the state laws that have passed, arguing they do not provide enough due process.
In a statement Monday, the gun rights group praised Trump's approach: "The NRA welcomes the president's call to address the root causes of the horrific acts of violence that have occurred in our country."
In addition to mental health issues, Trump and the GOP have also pointed to the rise of social media and violent video games as another driving force behind gun violence.
"We must recognize that the internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts," Trump said Monday in his brief address.
Some Republicans, including conservative Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida have called on tech companies, rather than Congress, to step up to the plate when it comes to curbing gun violence.
"Big tech has a big responsibility in this," Yoho told CNN. "These things need to be reported and they need to have these people looked into that are posting manifestos are out there."
A small cadre of Republicans, however, is still pushing to enact stricter background checks.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he would make a new push for the bill he drafted with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) that failed to reach the 60-vote threshold even after the 2012 Newtown, Conn., massacre at an elementary school.
Toomey said Monday that he had spoken to Trump and McConnell about his background check bill and that he had found Trump's tweet "encouraging."
Toomey declined to describe McConnell's response and added that there was no rush for Congress to return from recess, conceding that the "vote probably fails" if it were held immediately.
"If you want a successful outcome which I want ... you work toward developing the coalition and consensus so you actually get the right outcome," he said.
Republican Rep. Peter King said he got dinner with fellow New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, Sunday night, where they talked about teaming up on a background check bill that could get more GOP support.
Suozzi asked King to reach out to Trump on the issue, recognizing that the president could have the power to bring his party along on gun control.
King acknowledged, however, that it would have been more helpful if Trump had pushed for the idea in his public speech on Monday.
"That's why I'm hoping he can expand on it and make it clear that when he mentioned background checks initially, that should be incorporated into his statement that he wants bipartisan solutions," King said in an interview. "It should be a package deal: The pre-statement and the statement."
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