For years after declaring condolences to the victims of shootings, minority leader Mitch McConnell does nothing to control guns. He even used the filibuster to block a bipartisan bill to toughen gun laws.

But last month, after a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, murdered 19 elementary school children and two teachers, McConnell did something different: He said Congress should act and gave Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, his permission to cut a deal with Democrats on modestly stricter gun laws, which he ratified on Tuesday.

McConnell’s change reflects a new political paradigm as mass shootings become more periodic in the United States. Permissive gun laws have enabled easy access to AR-15-style rifles, including for hazardous people who seek to commit murder. The Kentucky Republican also has a political incentive: Winning back suburban voters, who support gun control but have wandered away from the GOP coalition and toward Democrats in recent elections.

For McConnell being a massive opponent of gun control, who has stamped himself the "grim reaper" of progressive priorities — a directness to a gun bill also reflects his intention to show the Senate can work with the 60-vote filibuster rule intact. A GOP leadership aide familiar with his thinking said it'd prove the Senate is "not broken" and that "those who want to change the rules are wrong."

The final bill has yet to be written, but many senators in both parties sound positive, with the framework deal alone captioning a great change after many decades of failed gun control.

Source:NBC News.