Nikolas Cruz, the man that shot and killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the deadliest mass shooting since 2012, had purchased his gun legally despite the fact that both school officials, peers, and others had informed law enforcement officials that he may have been unstable.

According to BBC News:

“The FBI admitted it failed to act on a tip-off about suspected shooter Nikolas Cruz, who has confessed to the shooting at a high school in Parkland in which 17 people died.”

The issue was not Cruz’s mental health issue, it was not about how sad his life may have been, it was about the fact that he simply should not have been legally capable of acquiring not only a gun but an AR-15 Rifle.

The survivors of the shooting have taken on the task of protesting and speaking out about the gun laws that have left them traumatized and their friends and classmates dead.

Last week, BBC News reported the following:

"Speaking on US television networks on Sunday morning, student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas announced their March for Our Lives campaign. They are planning to march on Washington on 24 March to demand that children and families ‘become a priority’ to US lawmakers. They want other protests to happen simultaneously in other cities on the same day. 'We are losing our lives while adults are playing around,” Cameron Kasky, a survivor from the school said. It is one of many student led protests amassing support on social media in the wake of Wednesday’s attack.'"

But what are Trump’s positions on gun control? Is gun reform possible under his administration, if hypothetically some kind of bipartisan deal could be made? This in itself seems pretty unlikely.

Like every position Trump holds, his opinion on gun control has shifted quite a few times. He ran his campaign as a pro-2nd amendment anti-gun control candidate, and last year he stated at an NRA convention that he would “never, ever infringe on that right.”

However, after the Florida shooting his stance slightly shifted. Instead of being completely anti-gun control he went to his second favorite position, which was to blame the Democrats.

BBC News referred to a recent tweet from Trump regarding his stance:

“In a tweet late on Saturday, the Republican President accused the Democrats of not acting on gun legislation 'when they had both the House and Senate during the Obama administration. Because they didn’t want to, and now they just talk!' he wrote, referring to criticism from Democrats following Wednesdays shooting.'”

After speaking with Republican Senator John Cornyn about a bipartisan gun control bill that was introduced, the following statement was reported:

"'While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the president is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system,' White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday."

There is still skepticism about this current shift towards possible legislation for gun control, not only because Trump’s positions change at the slightest whim, and any position he holds will only be held until he finds another one he likes better. As one of the survivors of the shooting, Emma Gonzalez, emphasized in her speech at a rally in Fort Lauderdale, the US president and many other Republican politicians have accepted and continue to accept very large donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA).

During her speech, Gonzalez stated:

“'If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and…how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association.' said Ms. Gonzalez. 'It doesn’t matter because I already know. Thirty million dollars,' the 18 year old said, referring to donations during Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.”

The point Emma Gonzalez makes is one to keep in mind, as many Republicans, including President Trump, are largely funded by the NRA. To pass gun control legislation would be passing legislation that would be against their own best interests. As students continue to march for gun control, the movement for gun reform is still up for debate.