But none seem curious about how America gun homicide rates fell nearly in half from 1990s to early 2010s.

Ten Democratic presidential candidates gathered today in Las Vegas, under the auspices of Giffords and March for Our Lives, to talk for a half-hour each at the "2020 Gun Safety Forum." They were questioned individually and sequentially by MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin and audience members; most, if not all of them, connected to some anti-gun-violence group.

The candidates agree on universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. There’s less agreement on other proposals.

In response to recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and now Odessa and Midland, Texas, and Mobile, Alabama, supporters of stricter gun laws have voiced a simple mantra: “Do something!”

So, after little federal action on guns for more than two decades, what would the 2020 presidential candidates actually do?

President Trump appears to be backing away from potential support for gun background check legislation, according to White House aides, congressional leaders and gun advocates, dimming prospects that Washington will approve significant new gun measures in the wake of mass shootings that left 31 dead.

This is one of the better gun-control proposals around, even if that’s not saying much.

A top White House adviser said President Trump is actively pursuing an expansion of background checks for gun buyers in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, as Democratic presidential candidates renewed calls over the weekend for bolder action to address gun violence.

“The president has been actively talking to Republicans and Democrats on the matter of background checks,” Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to Mr. Trump, said on Fox News Sunday. “We want to make sure that people who should not have firearms don’t.”

The terrible shootings in Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton in the past week have renewed cries for Washington, D.C., to do something. In our federal system, the most effective responses will have to come from state and local governments, which have the primary responsibility and the broadest tools for reducing violent crime. But the president and Congress can act in one area, the rules for buying guns.

President Trump on Friday called for "intelligent background checks" on gun purchases in response to a string of mass shootings across the country, expressing confidence that Congress would come together on action.

“Frankly, we need intelligent background checks,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a fundraiser in the Hamptons.

"This isn't a question of NRA, Republican or Democrat," he added.

President Trump expressed great confidence Friday that he could rally recalcitrant Republicans around legislation strengthening background checks and persuade the nation’s powerful gun lobby to drop its long-standing opposition to such measures, tasks that proved elusive following other mass shootings on his watch.

President Trump will deliver remarks this morning from the White House in response to the deadly shootings over the weekend in El Paso and Dayton that killed 29 people.

In what might be a preview of his speech, Trump, in a series of tweets called on Congress to pass gun control legislation, saying the victims shouldn't die in vain.

"Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying...this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform," Trump tweeted.

President Trump on Monday suggested tying new gun controls to immigration reform and said Democrats and Republicans should come together to “get strong background checks,” after weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio left at least 29 people dead and dozens more injured.

“Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks, perhaps marrying … this legislation with desperately needed immigration reform. We must have something good, if not GREAT, come out of these two tragic events!” the president said on Twitter.