McConnell vows to give gun bill a vote if it is backed by Trump

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday stressed that President Trump's support is the key to a gun reform bill getting a vote on the Senate floor in the wake of recent mass shootings.

McConnell, during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, said the Trump administration “is in the process of studying what they're prepared to support, if anything.”

“I expect to get an answer to that next week,” McConnell said. “If the president is in favor of a number of things that he has discussed openly and publicly and I know that if we pass it, it will become law, I'll put it on the floor.”

McConnell's comments underscore the political reality any push for new gun reforms faces.

Though House Democrats have already passed a background check bill and are expected to vote on additional bills as soon as next week, Republicans in the Senate are unlikely to back anything unless they get political cover from Trump. The Senate GOP is defending 22 seats this election cycle, most of those in deeply red states.