(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says gun violence will be addressed in the Senate, following last week’s shootings at a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two adults dead. Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, calls the slayings in Uvalde “a horrible, evil act.” Ernst says, “We do have a number of members in the Senate that have been assigned by leadership to really take a hard look at this particular incident, what happened, background behind the shooter, and how this could have happened in such a lovely community.”

A bipartisan group of senators is working on a compromise plan that would bridge the gap between making schools safer while not infringing on people’s constitutional rights. “Just trying to get to the root cause of some of these mass shootings and how we can prevent in the future while maintaining people’s Second Amendment rights, which is extremely important, but understanding evil individuals,” Ernst says. “How do we prevent them from doing this type of activity?”

Ernst’s counterpart, Senator Chuck Grassley told Radio Iowa on Tuesday he’s hopeful common ground can be reached on bipartisan gun control legislation.