Heidi Heitkamp

Heidi Heitkamp, a Democratic senator from North Dakota, called President Barack Obama's gun control proposal, as it has been reported in the Washington Post, "way in extreme."

"I think you need to put everything on the table, but what I hear from the administration — and if the Washington Post is to be believed — that’s way — way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about.  And it’s not gonna pass,” Heitkamp told ABC's George Stephanopoulos.

The new senator continued, "Let’s start addressing the problem. And to me, one of the issues that I think comes — screams out of this is the issue of mental health and the care for the mentally ill in our country, especially the dangerously mentally ill. And so we need to have a broad discussion before we start talking about gun control."

Heitkamp, according to ABC, is a member of the National Rifle Association.