LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Congress is back in Washington after a rash of gun violence across the country this past weekend.
Among those shootings, three were killed and 11 wounded when gunfire from several shooters erupted in a popular Philadelphia entertainment district late Saturday night. Early Sunday, a shooting near a Tennessee nightclub left three people dead and 14 other people injured. Police said 14 people were hit by gunfire, and three were hit by vehicles while trying to flee the scene.
A bipartisan group of senators is working on a proposal that would address red flag laws, legislation that can temporarily confiscate guns from those deemed a danger to others, and an increase in background checks.
"I've never been part of negotiations as serious as these," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, told CNN this weekend. "There are more Republicans at the table talking about changing our gun laws and investing in mental health than at any time since Sandy Hook."
The House is set to vote on a collection of other gun bills, which includes outlawing high-capacity magazines and raising the buying age for a semiautomatic weapon to 21 from 18.
Talks have intensified to reach a deal on incremental changes to the nation's gun laws. For the past decade, the push for changes have ramped up after a gunman killed 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012. Since then, previous attempts to pass major gun overhaul measures either stalled or failed in Congress.
"I'm more confident than ever that we're going to get there, but I'm also more anxious about failure this time around," Murphy said.
Monday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed 10 public safety-related bills, one of which makes the state one of the first to prohibit residents under age 21 from buying semiautomatic rifles.
Last week Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell said lawmakers were working on a gun violence bill, and that a compromise on legislation is possible following public pressure after the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, which resulted in 35 deaths among the three shootings.
McConnell's remarks came after President Joe Biden's address to the nation about gun violence where he implored Congress, particularly Republican senators, to act on gun control legislation. McConnell has yet to detail the specific types of gun control he would support.
Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
