Senate negotiators on Tuesday reached a long-awaited deal on a bipartisan gun safety bill to seize firearms from dangerous people and provide billions of dollars in new funding for mental health.
The legislation is a rare moment in a bipartisan agreement on accused issues of gun violence and gun control, breaking nearly 30 years of stalemate on those issues.
The bill does not ban assault rifles or high-capacity cartridges and does not significantly expand background checks on gun purchases, reforms that were top priorities for the Democratic Party a decade ago.
But it gives states more resources to take away weapons from dangerous people, even if they have not been convicted of a crime, and provides billions of dollars in funding for mental health treatment.
Lawmakers say they aimed to prevent mass shootings from the start, such as the massacre, which killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket and killed 21 at Rob’s Elementary School in Uwalde, Texas.
“I want to make sure we’re really doing something useful, something that could become law, something that will have the potential to save lives,” said Sen. John Cornin, Texas, the Senate’s leading Republican negotiator on Tuesday.
“I am happy to announce, as a result of the hard work of a number of senators in this House, that we have made significant progress,” he said.
Senators and officials worked over the weekend and said Tuesday afternoon they had resolved all their unresolved differences, giving Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) a good chance to pass a bill before the July 4 break.
Senator Chris Murphy (Connecticut), the Democratic’s chief negotiator, hailed the bill as a major breakthrough.
“I believe that this week we will pass legislation that will become the most important anti-violence legislation that Congress will pass in 30 years. It’s a breakthrough and, more importantly, it’s a bipartisan breakthrough, “he said.
Senate Republican Whip John Tun (RS.D.) said Tuesday that the law is likely to be passed because 10 Republican senators have already signed the framework of principles on which the bill is based.
“My guess is that based on the fact that they had 60 votes for the framework, they will have enough to accept,” he said.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, said last week that he was likely to vote on the bill, giving it at least 61 votes, enough to overcome the fraud.
Negotiators have broken a deadlock over language to close the so-called boyfriend door that stalled last week.
Current law prohibits individuals from buying weapons if they have been convicted of domestic violence against someone they have been married to, lived with or had a child with. Closing the door will apply this law to other romantic or intimate partners.
Under the boyfriend door reform, perpetrators of domestic violence will, for the first time, have the right to own a firearm five years after the end of their sentences, unless they are convicted of another violent crime during that period.
Lawmakers have argued over whether to create such a restitution process to allow spouses, ex-spouses, cohabitants and partners who share children convicted of domestic violence to regain their gun rights.
But Democrats have refused to extend the process of restoring gun rights to a wider group.
Negotiators raced to finalize the text amid signs of growing republican opposition.
Cornin was booed at a Republican congress in Texas on Friday as he tried to explain his efforts to repel Democrat calls for a ban on assault weapons and universal scrutiny.
But even the modest proposal to give the state money to administer red flag laws and other emergency procedures has drawn strong criticism from some prominent conservatives, including Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson.
“The red flag laws will not end the mass shootings, but the red flag laws will put an end to the proper process,” Carlson warned Fox. “Under red flag laws, the government does not have to prove that you have done something wrong to deprive you of your most basic rights. All it takes to punish you is to complain. ”
Eric Erickson, a conservative radio host and expert, warned this month that “such laws will be used to attack people because of their political views.”
Legislation will provide states with money to administer so-called red flag laws and other intervention procedures to keep guns away from people who are considered a danger to themselves or others.
The senators who drafted the language say there will be a speedy trial to give gun owners a chance to challenge and overturn a court order to confiscate their firearms.
“Unless a person has been convicted of a crime or found to be mentally ill, his ability to purchase a firearm will not be affected by this legislation,” Cornin told colleagues in a speech.
Cornin stressed that if the states do not create red flag laws with proper procedural protection, they will not be eligible for federal subsidies.
However, some Republican senators say they are still skeptical about spending federal money to help states administer red flag laws.
“This is a significant problem,” said Sen. Steve Danes (R-Mont.), Who said he had heard concerns from military veterans.
Some critics of the proposal worry that veterans’ mental health records could be used to confiscate their weapons.
The bill will also invest more than $ 7 billion in mental health services, increase funding for school mental health and support services, and invest in programs to strengthen safety measures around primary and secondary schools.
This will improve the background check process for arms buyers aged 18 to 21 by allowing greater access to juvenile delinquency files, clarify the definition of firearms dealers to include people who sell large arms. number of weapons without a federal firearms license and fight illegal arms trafficking.
Cornin noted that the improved past vetting process for people under the age of 21 will be monitored by the states.
The provision is scheduled to expire in 10 years, which means Congress will have to pass new legislation in 2032 to give the National Immediate Crime Checker System access to juvenile crime files.
One of the last hurdles in the group was how to apply the language of Hyde’s amendment to the bill to ensure that federal funding does not pay for abortions.
Democrats face warnings of support for Latinos Ukraine pleads for more weapons amid pressure to cede land for peace
Cornin said Hyde’s debate on the language was resolved, making sure it applied to the mandatory costs of the bill.
“She was worried. Hyde already covered discretionary costs, but there was some that potentially included mandatory costs that were not covered. But I know we have decided this in a way that supports Hyde’s defense, “he said.
This story was updated at 18:08
Add Comment