Nashville mayor calls for "common sense" gun reforms

Nashville Mayor John Cooper on Tuesday called for stricter gun control measures in a series of national media interviews conducted in the wake of the deadly shooting at The Covenant School.

What he's saying: Cooper acknowledged to NBC's "Today" that gun reforms are "challenging" in Tennessee, where they are opposed by the Republican-dominated state government.

• “I think it would be very challenging for Tennessee, but I think it needs to be brought up. And I think people need to understand that common sense reforms, which are not really onerous on gun ownership, does make a big difference.”
• Cooper said guns are "essentially ubiquitous" in Tennessee, adding "when guns and mental health issues come into contact with each other, you have big problems like we saw yesterday in what is our worst day."

Meanwhile: A group of Democratic state lawmakers attended a rally by the gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action.

In the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last year, Axios asked the top Republican elected officials what policies they support to address school shootings. Read the full story.

Watch Cooper's full interview