Washington lawmakers are beginning to coalesce around a plan that would expand the state's laws on gun background checks, providing hope for supporters after years of failed efforts.

Gun measures have flooded the Legislature this year, with some lawmakers proposing that teachers have the ability to carry firearms and others looking to add new fees to gun transactions. The universal background checks plan, however, has emerged as the most surprising proposal that has bipartisan support.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the bill would come in the state Senate, where the bill has been assigned to a committee dominated by pro-gun lawmakers.