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House GOP leaders downplayed the need for Congress to pass expansive new gun control measures on Tuesday, instead turning their ire on the FBI and local law enforcement for failing to prevent the Parkland, Fla. school shooting. Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters at a press conference that “we shouldn’t be banning guns for law-abiding citizens” but “focusing on making sure that citizens who shouldn’t get guns in the first place, don’t get those guns.” Ryan — who said arming teachers was a “good idea” but a local issue that Congress should not infringe upon — touted a House-passed bill to reinforce background checks under current law. (Bade, 2/27)

A key GOP lawmaker says it’s “unlikely” that a provision restricting research on gun violence gets removed in next month’s spending bill. “It's unlikely that we would remove it in this particular legislation simply because this is a $1.2 trillion bill,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chairman of the House Appropriations Health Subcommittee, told reporters on Tuesday. “It shouldn't be derailed for a single thing.” (Sullivan, 2/27)

Connecticut has had a “red flag” law for years, but after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, some in Congress think other states should be prodded to allow authorities to remove guns, at least temporarily, from those who may be a danger to themselves or others. Connecticut’s red flag law, enacted in 1999 and the first in the nation, allows two law enforcement officers, or one state’s attorney, to petition a court for a firearms restraining order. (Radelat, 2/27)

Some gun safety proposals passed their first Florida Senate committee without an assault weapons ban. While top GOP lawmakers are calling the effort bipartisan, some Democrats pushing for more gun reforms disagree. Hundreds of people crowded inside and outside a Senate committee room Monday for the first hearing of the gun safety bills in the Senate Rules committee. (Cordner, 2/27)