If any doubts remain about the nefarious influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) on the political life of the United States, President Donald Trump's decision to discuss gun-control measures with that organization should dispel them.
The offer to discuss these measures is like asking a criminal for his weapon of choice in order to hand it over. This obsequiousness equals that of many legislators, mainly Republican, who refuse to pass effective legislation on gun control measures out of fear of losing NRA support. Scores of people stand to lose, among them a significant number of children and adolescents, whose lives end needlessly by criminal violence.
Children and teenagers in the U.S. experience much higher rates of gun deaths and injuries than in any other industrialized country. In 2016, guns killed twice as many children as did cancer; only vehicle crashes were a higher cause of death. That same year, firearm-related injuries killed 3,143 children, while cancer caused 1,893 childhood deaths.