US senators seek common ground on gun laws but stark divide persists

Democrats and some Republicans in the US Senate have discussed tightening reviews of gun buyers following the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade, although members of both parties acknowledge action is unlikely.

WASHINGTON 

There is a wide gap between the two parties, with Republicans arguing that new limits on legal gun purchases will do nothing to deter crime, despite impassioned pleas by Democratic President Joe Biden and some of his Senate colleagues to act.

"My Republican colleagues can work with us now. I know this is a slim prospect, very slim, all too slim," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a floor speech on Wednesday, a day after a gunman killed 19 young children and two teachers at a Texas school.

Democrats control razor-thin majorities in Congress, but Senate rules mean they need at least 10 Republicans to pass major legislation.

That's a tall order with less than six months to go before November elections, when Republicans aim to retake the majority.

Similar debates have erupted following the many mass shootings that have occurred in the United States over past decades, with little to no action by Congress.