WASHINGTON – President Biden on Saturday signed a bipartisan weapons bill aimed at preventing dangerous people from accessing firearms and investing in mental health across the country, overcoming years of stalemate over whether to enforce national weapons laws.
Mr Biden signed the bill a day after clearing the House of Representatives and two days after it was passed in the Senate, where a small bipartisan group of senators set out to reach a compromise that could break the Republican filibuster, an obstacle that has long hampered any efforts to change gun laws.
The legislation came a month after a horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uwalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers as the country was already rocked by a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo. And while Mr Biden acknowledged that the bill was far from the urgent arms control measures he had called for, he noted that it included some long-sought priorities.
“God forbid,” Mr. Biden said as he left his pen, “it will save many lives.”
Add Comment