Republican senator ‘hopeful’ Congress will pass gun reform next month

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said on Sunday that he is “hopeful” Congress will pass gun reform measures when it reconvenes this month. 

“I’m hopeful. I think they ought to do what we did, what I did when Parkland happened,” Scott said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to a mass shooting last year at a high school in his state.

{mosads}Scott was Florida’s governor when a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 

In the wake of that shooting, Florida passed red flag laws that allow a court to remove firearms from a person who may be a danger to themselves or others.

Advocates on the state and federal level, however, have been pushing for further reform, including a universal background check bill.

The Democratic-controlled House passed a universal background check bill in February, but the Republican-majority Senate has not called it to a vote. 

Scott on Sunday stopped short of supporting the universal background check bill. 

Scott said he’s focused on “things I think work,” which he said are red flag laws and putting mental health counselors in schools. 

The nation has seen multiple mass shootings in the months since the Parkland massacre, including a Saturday shooting in West Texas that killed at least five people.