Sen. Rounds: Gun Control Has Gone as Far as We Can Go

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Wednesday that lawmakers have gone “about as far as we’re going to” on gun control legislation after Monday’s deadly shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.

“There isn’t anybody here that, if they could find the right approach, wouldn’t try to do something because they feel that pain,” Rounds told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “And yet, when we start talking about bans or challenging on the Second Amendment, I think the things that have already been done have gone about as far as we’re going to with gun control.”

Three 9-year-old students and three school staff members were killed in a shooting at The Covenant School on Monday. Police say Audrey Hale, 28, a former student at the school, elaborately planned the massacre by drawing out a detailed map and conducting surveillance of the building.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday told CNN he couldn’t do anything but plead with Congress “to act reasonably.”

“I have done the full extent of my executive authority — to do on my own, anything about guns … the Congress has to act,” he said. “The majority of the American people think having assault weapons is bizarre, it’s a crazy idea. They’re against that. And so I think the Congress could be passing an assault weapon ban.”

Monday’s shooting has sparked a familiar call for action on gun control, though Republicans and Democrats are divided on potential legislation.

Biden has taken more than 20 executive actions on gun since taking office in 2021, including regulation of the use of “ghost guns.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., on Tuesday demurred when asked if the shooting would push Congress to address reforms.

“I really get angry when I see people try to politicize it for their own personal agenda, especially when we don’t even know the facts,” Scalise said.

“Let’s get the facts. And let’s work to see if there’s something that we can do to help secure schools. We’ve talked about things that we can do, and it just seems like on the other side, all they want to do is take guns away from law abiding citizens … and that’s not the answer, by the way.”