Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) indicated an “assault weapons” ban and other gun controls would be “front and center” when the Senate reconvenes in September.

The Courier-Journal reports that McConnell was a guest on the Louisville, KY, Terry Meiners Show where he said, “What we can’t do is fail to pass something,” adding, “The urgency of this is not lost on any of us.”

NPR reports that McConnell addressed an “assault weapons” ban, saying: “We had that ban for about a 10-year period. There’s a good deal of dispute about whether it actually had an impact or not. It’s certainly one of the front and center issues. I think … probably background checks and red flags will probably lead the discussion. But a lot of other things will come up as well.”

McConnell also stressed background checks would be taken up by the Senate.

On August 7, 2019, Breitbart News reported that President Donald Trump pushed for Congressional action for background checks. The Associated Press quoted Trump saying, “There’s a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks. And I think we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before.”

The U.S. has had background checks on retail gun sales since 1998.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.