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The Wall Street Journal has published a deep dive into the relationship between Chris Murphy and John Cornyn, the two senators tasked with finding a compromise on gun control in Congress, which focuses on their experiences with mass shootings in their states.

The experience of Murphy, a Democrat, stems from the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting which, like last month’s massacre in Uvalde, Texas, left dead scores of children in class. Republican Cornyn’s experience came in 2017 during a shooting at a Sutherland Springs, Texas church that killed 26 people, and again with the killings in Uvalde.

“Both of us have gone through things and seen things that are pretty, pretty horrific,” said Mr. Murphy in an interview, pointing to the shootings in their states. “I don’t think there’s any way that that doesn’t propel you in some way, shape or form to go out, do something, to make sure that all of this stops.”

The two men, coming from parties with sharply different positions on the gun debate, are working to overcome decades of distrust and inaction on guns in a deeply polarized Congress, aiming to pull together an agreement as soon as this week. Many Democrats, worn down after repeated failures to advance new laws, have said they are willing to settle for even a small bipartisan deal. Some Republicans also are open to talks, emphasizing school security and mental illness but wary of any steps that could be cast as hurting gun rights.