Once the House of Representatives approves the measure, it will go to President Joe Biden for a law to be signed, marking a significant bipartisan breakthrough on one of Washington’s most contentious political issues. The Senate passed the bill in a late-night vote Thursday. The measure includes millions of dollars for mental health, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile files in the National Immediate Verification System.
It also makes significant changes to the process when someone between the ages of 18 and 21 goes to buy a firearm and closes the so-called boyfriend door, a victory for Democrats who have long fought for it.
The package is the most significant new federal law to tackle gun violence since the 10-year ban on attacks in 1994 – although it fails to ban any weapons and is far from what Democrats and polls show most Americans they want to see.
House Republican leaders oppose the bill, but support is still expected from both parties
Despite widespread bipartisan support for the bill in the Senate, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have come out in opposition to it, urging their members to vote no.
But even with Republican leaders in the House of Representatives who oppose the bill, there are already some Republicans in the House of Representatives who have indicated they plan to vote for it, and the Democratic-controlled House is expected to pass the bill. .
The bill passed the Senate on Thursday, with 15 Republicans joining Democrats in support. The final score was 65-33.
Shortly after the bill was passed by the Senate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the rules committee would meet on Friday morning to prepare the bill for action.
“When the rules committee completes its work, we will immediately head to the hall. And we will send the bill to President Biden for signature, thanking him for his leadership, “Pelosi said in a statement.
Basic provisions in the bill
The bill includes $ 750 million to help countries implement and implement crisis intervention programs. The money can be used to implement and manage red flag programs – which, through court orders, can temporarily prevent people in crisis from accessing firearms – and other crisis intervention programs such as mental health courts, drugs and courts for veterans.
This bill closes an annual loophole in the Domestic Violence Act – the “Boyfriend Lock” – which prohibits persons who have been convicted of domestic violence offenses from spouses, partners with whom they have shared children or partners with whom they have cohabited, to have a weapon. The old statutes do not include intimate partners who cannot live together, be married or share children. The law will now prohibit anyone who has been convicted of a crime of domestic violence against someone with whom he has a “continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” from having a weapon.
The law has no retroactive effect. However, this will allow those convicted of domestic violence crimes to regain their gun rights after five years if they have not committed other crimes.
The bill encourages states to include juvenile records in the National System for Immediate Inspection of Criminal Origin with Grants, and implements a new protocol for verifying these records.
The bill applies to people who sell weapons as a major source of income but have previously avoided registering as a firearms dealer with a federal license. It also increases funding for mental health and school security programs.
A bipartisan compromise caused by tragic mass shootings
The bill came after recent mass shootings at an elementary school in Uwalde, Texas, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which was located in a predominantly black neighborhood.
A bipartisan group of negotiators began working in the Senate and unveiled a legislative text Tuesday. The bill, titled the Two-Party Safe Communities Act, was passed by Republican Sen. John Cornin of Texas and Tom Tillis of North Carolina, and Democrats Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kirsten Cinema of Arizona.
Deputies are now vying to pass the bill before leaving Washington for the July 4th break.
The deal marks a rare occasion for a compromise between party lines on one of Washington’s most contentious issues – a feat in today’s highly polarized political environment.
Reaching a bipartisan agreement on basic weapons legislation has been extremely difficult for lawmakers in recent years, even with countless mass shootings across the country.
While lawmakers sought compromise, there were points where it was unclear whether the effort would succeed or fail. But while the two parties’ efforts seemed on thin ice after several key obstacles emerged, negotiators eventually managed to resolve the issues.
Lauren Fox of CNN, Ali Zaslav and Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.
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