Here is my homework assignment for all the fist-clenching, gun control-demanding teenagers walking out of classrooms this week to protest school shootings: Ask not what the rest of the country can do for your local school's safety; ask what your local school boards and superintendents have been failing to do for you. Chances are, the adults closest to you - those most directly responsible for your security - have been shirking their primary duties, squandering scarce resources and deflecting blame.

A Trump administration plan to crack down on people who lie to buy guns faces a giant hurdle: It relies on federal agents and prosecutors who are already overwhelmed with other responsibilities.

Advocates for gun control laid out 7,000 pairs of shoes on the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to memorialize the 7,000 children killed by gun violence in the U.S. since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. "The culture on guns is shifting and we can all feel it," said deputy director Emma Ruby-Sachs in a news release.

Not two weeks ago, President Donald Trump wagged his finger at a Republican senator and scolded him for being "afraid of the NRA," declaring he would stand up to the powerful gun lobby and finally get results on quelling gun violence following last month's Florida school shooting. On Monday, Trump struck a very different tone as he backpedaled from his earlier demands for sweeping reforms.

Two Republican state senators with ties to the National Rifle Association publicly backed the renewed effort Monday to expand background checks on Minnesota gun sales, the latest reminder that gun issues often don't follow party lines in state politics. The public support from Sens. Scott Jensen and Paul Anderson, both NRA members, could give the latest push for stronger gun laws a jolt.

Under pressure from gun rights groups, President Donald Trump backed away on Monday from raising the minimum age for gun purchases from 18 to 21, one of several measures he had supported after the latest U.S. school shooting. The proposal to raise the minimum age for buying guns from 18 to 21 was not part of a modest set of Trump administration school safety plans announced on Sunday and which were closely aligned with National Rifle Association positions.

Not two weeks ago, President Donald Trump wagged his finger at a Republican senator and scolded him for being "afraid of the NRA," declaring that he would stand up to the powerful gun lobby and finally get results on quelling gun violence following last month's Florida school shooting. On Monday, Trump struck a very different tone as he backpedaled from his earlier demands for sweeping reforms and bowed to Washington reality.

U.S. President Donald Trump has backtracked on raising the minimum age requirement from 18 to 21 for some gun purchases, local media reported on Monday. The latest proposals put forward by the White House instead suggested the establishment of a commission to examine whether the measure would make sense.

The White House unveiled a new plan to prevent school shootings that backs off President Donald Trump's support for increasing the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons to 21. Instead, a new federal commission on school safety will examine the age issue as part of a package the White House announced Sunday in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month that left 17 dead. The administration also pledged to help states pay for firearms training for teachers and reiterated its call to improve the background check and mental health systems.

Washington, D.C., area students and supporters protest against gun violence outside the White House on Feb. 19 after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting. The White House on Sunday unveiled its demands for any legislation designed to prevent additional gun massacres at the country's schools, and they exclude President Donald Trump's endorsement of a new age restriction on assault rifles. He also wants Congress to send him two Senate bills pronto.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act in the governor's office at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., Friday, March 9, 2018. Scott is flanked by victims' parents Gena Hoyer, left, Ryan Petty, second from left, Andrew Pollack, right, and his son Hunter Pollack, second from right.

The political and legal fallout from Florida Gov. Rick Scott's decision to sign a sweeping gun bill into law following a school massacre was nearly immediate as the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit to stop it and political candidates in both parties criticized it. Republican U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who's running for Florida governor as a champion of gun rights, went on Fox News late Friday night to criticize the law, which raises the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21; extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns; and bans bump stocks, which allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire.

A Virginia Beach school teacher running for Congress who posted an online video sawing apart an AR-15 rifle is now under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to ABC 13 News . Karen Mallard says she destroyed the rifle, the kind used in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting last month, to take "a personal stand for gun safety," and handed the weapon over to the police after filming the video.

The National Rifle Association has dramatically increased its funding to schools in recent years amid a national debate over guns and school violence, an Associated Press analysis of tax records has found. But few say they plan to give up the money in the aftermath of the latest mass shooting.

It is now beyond doubt: The fearless student survivors of the Parkland, Fla., mass shooting are changing the debate about gun control. The students didn't get everything they wanted in Tallahassee, and clearly more changes are needed.