Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

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• Under intense pressure to take action on gun safety in the wake of two recent massacres, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, expressed a new willingness to consider a measure expanding background checks for all gun purchasers, saying it will be “front and center” in a coming Senate debate on how to respond to gun violence.

• “Red Flag” gun laws have been implemented in 17 states so far and are gaining momentum in Congress. They aren’t airtight since they work only when people report threatening behavior, but they let judges take guns away from troubled owners and have been used hundreds of times.

• Virginia’s off-year elections in November loom as the first political battlefield on the issue of gun control. Republicans hold only one-vote majorities in both the State House and Senate. Democrats are aiming to capture both chambers and pass new gun control legislation.