Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday he would support the bipartisan Senate deal on gun reform “if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates,” calling it “progress for the country” after a recent string of mass shootings.
Over the weekend, a bipartisan group of senators that includes 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans reached an agreement with provisions to expand background checks for those under 21 and a commitment to provide funding to schools for mental health.
McConnell said he hoped the framework agreed upon could be turned into legislation that the Senate could pass.
“For myself, I’m comfortable with the framework, and if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates, I’ll be supportive,” McConnell said.
On Sunday, the group of senators released a statement announcing what they called a “commonsense proposal” on gun safety.
“Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities,” the statement stated.
McConnell said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who McConnell tapped to lead GOP negotiators, showed Republican senators a poll of only gun owners that demonstrated support for the measures included in the deal is “off the charts.”
“I think if this framework becomes the actual piece of legislation, it’s a step forward, a step forward on a bipartisan basis and further demonstrates to the American people that we can come together, which we have done from time to time on things like infrastructure and postal reform, to make progress for the country,” McConnell told reporters.
McConnell said the senators did their best to garner “total support” for their deal and specifically mentioned the background check enhancement for those under 21 as “a step in the right direction.”
McConnell is among the members of Congress with the highest contributions from gun groups, according to Axios.
In the aftermath of another mass shooting in Odessa, Texas, that killed seven people in 2019, when the GOP was still in the Senate majority, McConnell said he would only bring gun control legislation to the Senate floor if President Donald Trump supported it.
In the past, McConnell has stood in the way of getting gun control legislation passed, according to NBC News.
In the wake of a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 59 people, the Kentucky Republican said “the investigation has not even been completed. And I think it’s premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any.”
McConnell also campaigned on gun rights in 2013, a few months after the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting, issuing a robocall attacking President Barack Obama’s proposals on gun safety.
The current bipartisan deal also includes a provision to close the “boyfriend loophole.” Currently, federal law bans only those convicted of abusing their spouses or a person with whom they have a child from obtaining firearms. Closing this loophole would extend that ban to all convicted stalkers and abusers.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is credited with pushing for the reform to be included in the framework.
The deal will also include incentives for states that pass red flag laws, which would bar individuals that are deemed a danger to themselves or others from purchasing firearms.
This “is going to be a bill with a lot of money for law enforcement, schools and mental health,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN Tuesday. “All of that money will be eligible for states, whether they pass red flag laws or not. We have a specific incentive fund, though, for states that do choose to pass red flag laws.”
Murphy, who is leading Democrats in the negotiations, added they are hoping to vote on the deal before the Senate goes on recess for July 4.
The legislation still hasn’t been written.
“Our agreement is based on principles alone and translating this proposal into legislative language is no easy task, as members of the Senate understand,” Cornyn said on the Senate floor Tuesday.
Still, if passed, the deal would represent the biggest change on guns in decades. Momentum for the agreement was created after a string of deadly mass shootings, including at a school in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.