Republican Rep. Tim Burchett on Thursday backtracked on prior remarks that lawmakers were “not going to fix” the problem of mass shootings, telling reporters that he had been eyeing possible firearm restrictions for certain people with mental illnesses. “We can issue press releases all we want, but we’ve got to find some meaningful legislation, that’s the bottom line. We’ve got to come to the table,” Burchett said outside the U.S. Capitol. “I spoke with several Democrats yesterday about how something would look, and I talked about—floated—ideas about mental health.” His reversal comes four days after an armed assailant, identified by police as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, opened fire at a small Christian grade school in Nashville, killing six people, including three 9-year-olds. Burchett referenced Hale in his Thursday comments, saying, “Obviously, a mentally ill girl shot up a school in Nashville, Tenn. There’s just no question about it: She was mentally ill.”
