An Arizona Democratic senator has a fight ahead of her trying to persuade Republicans to join what she has called a "common sense" gun bill.
Sen. Katie Hobbs has started a petition to ask the full Senate to debate the merits of her bill limiting Arizonans who are deemed mentally ill from accessing firearms.
As of Monday, it needed five Republicans to sign on for it to make the full Senate floor. For now, it is blocked from being heard in committee.
She has asked fellow lawmakers to consider that in other states similar measures have bi-partisan and law enforcement's support.
"It gives law enforcement officials another option when they encounter those they fear may be a threat, in between trying to trigger an involuntary commitment or letting them go," Hobbs explained.
Hobbs suspects the mass shooting in Florida, and others before it, could have been prevented if families were also granted mental health injunctions to keep loved ones from accessing guns, without being incarcerated.
