“And no law-abiding gun owner should be offended by this. We are not taking away any rights, any privileges. We are not basically threatening to lose anything, unless we may not do so, you may lose a child or a grandchild,” he added. Manchin is part of a bipartisan Senate that has announced an agreement in principle on gun safety legislation. The agreement includes “required mental health resources, improves school security and support for students, and helps ensure that dangerous criminals and those considered mentally ill cannot buy weapons,” the group said in a statement Sunday. Notably, the announcement includes the support of 10 Republican senators, which would give the proposal enough support to overcome the Senate riot. Asked on Monday if he thought GOP support would falter forward, Manchin said: “I really believe in my heart that we will have more than 10 Republicans.” “So many of my good Republican friends and colleagues have gone out of their way to find a more sensible way to do something that will protect the children of America,” Manchin told the Tapper. On Monday, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, a leading Republican on the Justice Committee, spoke positively about the general points under gun violence legislation, but warned that he would have to see the final text before deciding how to vote. “I think it makes a lot of sense, but you have to see what the text says,” Grassley told the Capitol. At first, when asked if he would support the proposal, he told a reporter abruptly: “Who would be foolish enough to say that he supports something without seeing the text?” Minority whip John Thune, a Republican senator from South Dakota facing re-election this year, similarly would not have said Monday afternoon if he had supported the bipartisan gun framework. “I think until we look at the text of the bill, it’s just difficult,” Thune said. He later added that “many of these will depend on how this is written”. Their comments underline that the drafting of the legislation remains one of the biggest factors for the bipartisan group. Democrats, however, maintain an ambitious goal: To draft the bill and keep Republicans in view before the next break, aides told CNN. CNN’s Ted Barrett, Lauren Fox and Devan Cole contributed to this report.
