After two weeks of avoiding direct negotiations following the mass shooting an Uvalde, Texas elementary school, President Joe Biden is meeting with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who is leading conversations with Republicans on a bipartisan gun control bill.
Biden said he has wanted to give Murphy and those negotiating a package some space to come to a solution. Democrats have proposed raising the age to purchase semi-automatic assault rifles, requiring background checks on all gun sales, and establishing new requirements for storing guns at home, among other items.
It seems Republicans, even those willing to negotiate a bill, are unwilling to go to such lengths, but Sen. Pat Toomey told CBS News on Sunday he believes there can be common ground on background checks and red flag laws.
"Something in the space of expanding background checks I think is certainly is on the table and I hope will be part of a final package,” he said.
Getting anything passed will take 10 Republicans to join 50 Democrats. Despite failed efforts at gun control legislation in the past, Murphy told CNN that he is closer than ever to reaching an agreement.
"I think Republicans realize how scared parents and kids are across this country,” he said on Sunday. “I think they realize that the answer this time cannot be nothing... that it's, frankly, a test of democracy. It's a test of the federal government as to whether we can deliver at a moment of just fierce anxiety among the American public. We're closer than ever before. Let's see if we land it."