US campaigners have welcomed a potential cross-party deal on gun safety reforms but stressed the proposals do not go far enough. “This is progress even if small,” said David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida. Ex-lawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, injured in a 2011 shooting in Arizona, said it was an “important step forward”. The plans include tougher checks for buyers under the age of 21 and cracking down on illegal gun purchases. They were announced by a cross-party group of US senators on Sunday. Crucially, the proposals are supported by 10 Republicans, meaning they have the numbers to be voted into law. President Joe Biden also said the plans were “steps in the right direction” but they fell far short of what he and many Democrats have been calling for. Recent attempts to tighten gun laws in the US – which has the highest rate of firearms deaths among the world’s wealthy nations – have failed to get the required support in Congress. (BBC)…[+]