A former Long Island legislator is urging lawmakers from both political sides to compromise on gun legislation.

Former Rep. Peter King says it's time for Democrats and Republicans to stop the political posturing and find common ground to save lives.

King, a Republican, proposes a nationwide ban on AR-15 assault rifles, the same weapons used in some of the country's deadliest mass shootings.

He also says Democrats need to let law enforcement do their jobs.

"We have to go about hardening schools, making sure police are properly trained in all those schools," King says. "And also, Democrats to realize there are more innocent kids killed on the streets of New York, Chicago and Philadelphia than in these mass murders."

Dix Hills gun safety advocate Linda Beigel Schulman, who lost her son Scott Beigel in a Florida school shooting, says current members of Congress need to find common ground.

"Meet in the middle, it doesn't hurt anybody to meet in the middle," Beigel Schulman says. "The left has to give, the right has to give. And there we are and everybody wins."

Andy Chernoff, who works at Coliseum Gun Traders in Uniondale, agrees that compromise is needed, but does not support an assault weapons ban.

He says he doesn't think that would matter because of the guns that are already out in the country.

Legislators from both parties on Capitol Hill are working on potential gun safety legislation.

News 12 reached out to King's successor, Andrew Garbarino, about his stance on gun legislation. He declined to speak.