WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ohio’s members of Congress all agreed the recent mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa were horrifying, but they disagree over how the federal government should respond.

For the first time since the 1990s, Congress is taking bipartisan steps to pass gun safety legislation.

A group of bipartisan senators is pursuing a list of moderate gun safety measures that would incentivize states to pass “red flag” laws, require an investigative period to review records of gun buyers under 21, expand school-based mental health services and funding for school safety, and more.

“I’m encouraged. I think it’s a good step. I’d like to go further,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told Spectrum News on Tuesday.

Brown said he’s open to supporting the eventual bill, but he has called for more sweeping reforms like reinstating a ban on assault weapons.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is part of the group negotiating the more moderate deal.

He told Spectrum News last month there was an appetite for writing something that can get enough votes in the closely divided Senate, not just score political points.

“Sometimes we do that here,” Portman said May 26. “We put bills up, either Republican or Democrat bills. We know no one else on the other side is going to support. Just as a message. Messaging is not what’s needed now, it’s to actually try to do something that would help.”

Ohio’s U.S. House members are further apart on it.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R, OH-8) tweeted an article about House Republicans pushing back on the deal and wrote, “A very understated headline... Not no, but HELL NO.”

Rep. Tim Ryan (D, Ohio’s 13th Congressional District) tweeted that the bipartisan framework is “a historic step forward in protecting our kids and keeping our communities safe from gun violence.”

Last week, the House voted to approve more sweeping legislation that would raise the minimum age to buy a semi-automatic rifle to 21 years old, require all firearms be traceable and restrict large capacity magazines, among other measures. 

But the bill does not have enough Republican support to get passed by the Senate.

Northeast Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R, OH-16), who’s leaving Congress later this year, was one of only five House Republicans to join Democrats in voting for it.

Fellow Ohio Republicans Mike Turner (OH-10) and Dave Joyce (OH-14) voted for several of the provisions, but against the overall bill.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan (R, OH-4) led the opposition to it on the House floor.

“If the Democrats want to work with us on school security, on security personnel at school buildings, making sure they’re actually trained and all, I think all Republicans—all Americans—would be for that,” Jordan told Spectrum News in an interview last week. 

All four Ohio Democrats in the U.S. House voted for the legislation while 11 of 12 Ohio Republicans voted against it.

Senators who are negotiating the more modest package of reforms hope they can get it passed before Congress leaves for the Fourth of July recess.