Another Retailer Tightens Rules on Gun Sales

The issue of guns remained front and center Thursday, with Kroger becoming the third major retailer in recent days to add new restrictions to gun sales, reports the Wall Street Journal. (Dick's and Walmart came first.) The supermarket chain will no longer sell guns or ammo to those under 21 at its Fred Meyer stores. The company previously stopped selling assault-style rifles in Oregon, Washington state, and Idaho and will now stop selling them in Alaska, too, per CNN. Elsewhere on guns:

• One left: The moves mean only one major retailer remains selling assault-style rifles, reports Time. That would be Bass Pro Shops, which includes Cabela's.
• Focus on Trump: Much attention is still being paid to President Trump's extraordinary televised meeting with lawmakers Wednesday. Chris Cillizza of CNN counts 43 "eye-popping lines," including, "We got to stop this nonsense. It's time." This is a "big deal if Trump means it," writes Cillizza. Now the test will be if Trump pushes to get legislation passed, especially in the House.
• He 'misspoke': Another big line from Trump came when he said, "Take the guns first, go through due process second," in regard to confiscating weapons from potentially dangerous people. On Thursday, GOP Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said the language was "astonishing" but doesn't think it's worth dwelling on. "You can chalk that up to that he misspoke," he tells CBS News.

• Trump's own guns: Politico points out that one thing absent from the gun debate is that Trump revealed in 2012 that he had a concealed-carry permit and owned multiple guns. As recently as 2016, he said he "always" carries a gun, though the White House didn't answer questions about the current status of any permits.
• His assessment: Trump tweeted that "some good" and "some not so good" ideas came out of Wednesday's meeting. "Background Checks a big part of conversation. Gun free zones are proven targets of killers. After many years, a Bill should emerge. Respect 2nd Amendment!"
• Takeaways: At the Hill, Niall Stanage and Jordain Carney write that Trump's desire "to get something done appeared both genuine and urgent." One problem, though, is that lawmakers took home mixed messages, with confusion over whether to proceed on a bill to fix the National Instant Background Check System or to revive a 2013 background check bill that failed to get 60 votes.
• Rubio's plan: The Florida senator says he plans to unveil a plan soon to fortify schools while blocking gun sales to unstable or potentially dangerous buyers, reports Reuters. No details yet.
• To the states: Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin assesses all of the above and doesn't think anything of substance will come out of Congress on gun control. But that doesn't mean advocates are out of luck, she writes in the Washington Post: "The real action may very well be in statehouses."
• In Australia: The government there announced that it collected 57,000 illegal firearms last year during a three-month amnesty, reports NPR. It was the first such amnesty program since the nation famously introduced tough gun laws after a mass shooting in 1996.

(More gun control stories.)