ABC News 4 - Sen. Tim Scott Discusses Gun Laws After Emanuel AME Shooting

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Sen. Tim Scott says he's open to hearing from victims' families from the Emanuel AME shooting as they visit Washington this week to make a push for stronger gun laws.

On the heels of a press conference to announce a major push with Congressional Democrats and the Brady Campaign for legislation expanding required background checks for firearms buyers at gun shows and online.

Scott said it was amazing to see the families making efforts in the names of their loved ones so soon after the shooting in Charleston on June 17.

"I asked them to send me all the stories so that I could have the opportunity to compare what they are asking for to the laws that we already have and to see what difference it would all make going forward," he said.

While Scott said he was open to looking at their plan, he thought it was going to be a long and difficult task forward to find a law that will prevent more violence from happening.

"We are going to make sure that we are there to listen and be attentive to the needs of our constituents. Where there is agreement we'll move forward on it. When there's not, we'll be clear on that as well," he said.

One person Scott said has continually impressed him since the shooting is Charleston Southern baseball player Chris Singleton, whose mother was killed in the shooting.

Scott is also a graduate of CSU.

"He's fantastic. He has gone through challenges, and you know how close I am to my mother, so thinking through what he's had to go through and watching the grace and the maturity that he's handled this, it's been very impressive," Scott said. "Great guy, amazing future, and I think he now has a community and a state full of fans."

Scott said the the shooting also forced the issue of the Confederate flag flying on Statehouse grounds. He's happy to see the General Assembly acting quickly on a matter that has the state's attention, he said, instead of leaving it to languish and possibly be dealt with by people not in South Carolina.

That said, Scott says he rarely gets asked about the Confederate flag.

"I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of people over the last several years and the flag came up sometimes but not that often," he said.

"Certainly the Emanuel 9, they hit the accelerator in a way that none of us around the state expected but I've been very thankful for the way that South Carolina, the community, and the family have come together as a state and we're making decision for what's in our best interest."

He also thought the state's House members would act much like the Senate did and pass the bill removing the flag.

"Hopefully in the next few days we'll see more progress in the General Assembly, but that will be a decision they will be forced to make and they will bear the burden of that decision, Scott said.

Scott also addressed immigration reform in light of another fatal shooting. In San Francisco a woman was killed allegedly by someone in the country illegally who had apparently been departed before.

"Until we find a way to secure our borders it's impossible for us to look at the issue of immigration reform from a comprehensive standpoint," he said.

However, Scott says right now the attention in Washington is education. He plans to make a big push for educational choice and call for the expansion of available charter, magnet and private schools that will give parents options for their children.

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