In the wake of one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are meeting to draft legislation related to gun control.

Senator Joni Ernst is open to discussions about what to do about these shootings.

“There have to be some reasonable discussions from both (political) parties coming forward on how we can actually get the people that shouldn’t have weapons, so they can’t access weapons, but then allow law-abiding citizens to still maintain their rights. This is a difficult balance.”     

Ernst points out whatever might be decided, there still needs to be a system laid out.

“It has to be with due process. I certainly wouldn’t want that neighbor over there to say, ‘Hey, I don’t like my neighbor, so they shouldn’t have a gun.’ It has to be done through a judicial process.”  

Ernst says she has not received a briefing with the details of what happened at the Texas elementary school shooting, but she believes there was a breakdown in not catching the young shooter soon enough to stop the atrocity that person did in taking so many lives.