Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, is calling on his colleagues involved in bipartisan talks on gun reform to “do the right thing” following last week’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas.
When asked by CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Dana Bash on Sunday if lawmakers would take action following the shooting in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers dead, Durbin said the photos and stories of the victims have been “compelling” for lawmakers.
“I can’t say for certain, but I can tell you I sense a different feeling among my colleagues after Uvalde,” Durbin said.
A small group of Democratic and Republican senators have formed a bipartisan negotiating group in hopes of reaching a modest deal on gun control legislation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday gave the green light to bipartisan talks, revealing that he asked Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of his advisers, to negotiate with Democrats.
The group of nine senators met Thursday afternoon in the Capitol basement to chart out a path for negotiations. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a leading advocate in the Senate for gun reform, hosted the meeting.
The group said it is focusing on background checks and encouraging states to set up “red flag” laws to prohibit people deemed dangerous to themselves or others from owning firearms.
Durbin said on Sunday that he is supporting the bipartisan talks and had been in touch with both Murphy and Cornyn.
“I offered to Sen. Cornyn, if you can make progress between you, if you can move us forward, don’t worry about the committee jurisdiction,” Durbin said.
“Do the right thing and do as much as you can do. And let’s join together, if we can, on a bipartisan basis and show the American people that what happened in Uvalde was not in vain,” he said.