The first order of business for Democrats was clear. On Monday, Congress returned from its August recess, and the partys leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rushed to hold a press conference demanding action on gun control legislation following a trio of high-profile mass shootings during lawmakers monthlong break.

Were here today for one simple reason, Schumer declared. Too many Americans are losing their lives to gun violence.

The fix, Pelosi said, was to pass the same universal background check legislation in the Senate that already passed in the House.

Schumer and Pelosis answer to gun violence, and an epidemic of mass shootings, is the same answer Democrats have been giving since at least 2013: universal background checks for gun purchases, and potentially a ban on assault weapons. As a political strategy, its worked: Both policies are supported by a majority of Americans, and Democratic support for gun control and the perception that Republicans are in hock to an increasingly unpopular National Rifle Association was a key reason suburban voters helped Democrats win back control of the House in 2018.

But that policy consensus may be melting away, a sign of just how quickly the political conversation around guns has shifted in favor of Democrats. Presidential candidates, led by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Texas Rep. Beto ORourke, are pushing for more aggressive action aimed at reducing the number of guns in American hands: a national gun licensing system and a mandatory buyback of assault weapons.

Its pretty clear that we have too many guns. Its too easy to buy them. Its far too easy to possess weapons that were designed for war, said ORourke, who debuted a more ambitious gun control plan, including a mandatory assault weapon buyback, after a mass shooter killed 22 people in a possible hate crime at a Walmart in his hometown of El Paso. Earlier in the campaign, ORourke had said even gun licensing may go too far.

Now? They dont go far enough, ORourke said of background checks in a phone interview. I understand the logic of it, and at one point it was compelling enough for me. Theres a lot of consensus between Republicans and Democrats, between gun owners and non-gun owners.