WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – A bipartisan package of modest gun security measures was passed by the U.S. Senate late Thursday, although the Supreme Court widely expanded gun rights by ruling that Americans have a constitutional right to carry pistols in public for self-defense.
The landmark ruling and Senate gun action illustrate the deep divisions over firearms in the United States, weeks after mass shootings in Uwalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, killed more than 30 people, including 19 children. Read more
The Senate bill, passed by 65 to 33 votes, is the first major gun control law passed in three decades, in a country with the world’s largest number of weapons per capita and the highest number of mass shootings a year. rich nations.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
“This bipartisan legislation will help protect Americans. It will make children in schools and communities safer because of it, “said President Joe Biden after the vote. “The House of Representatives must immediately vote on this bipartisan bill and send it to my bureau.”
The bill, which supporters say will save lives, is modest – its most important restriction on gun ownership will tighten checks on potential gun buyers convicted of domestic violence or serious juvenile delinquency.
Republicans have refused to compromise on broader gun control measures favored by Democrats, including Biden, such as banning assault rifles or high-capacity magazines.
“This is not a cure-all for the ways in which gun violence affects our nation, but it is a long-overdue step in the right direction,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the floor before the vote.
The Supreme Court’s ruling earlier Thursday, passed by its conservative majority, lifted New York State’s restrictions on carrying concealed handguns outside the home.
The court found that the law, passed in 1913, violated a person’s right to “hold and bear arms” under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Read more
In a Senate vote late Thursday, 15 Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting for the bill.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauded the bill and said in a statement that it would continue in the House of Representatives on Friday, with a vote as soon as possible.
Republicans in the House of Representatives had instructed their members to vote against the bill, although since the House is controlled by Democrats, their support was not needed to pass the bill.
Biden will sign the bill.
The Senate action came weeks after Biden’s passionate speech, in which he declared “enough” gun violence and called on lawmakers to act.
Polls show that the majority of Americans support some new restrictions on firearms, demands that usually rise after mass shootings such as those in Texas and New York.
Participant tests a weapon exhibited at the annual convention of the National Arms Association (NRA) in Houston, Texas, USA, May 28, 2022. REUTERS / Callaghan O’Hare
Read more
Democrats have warned that the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday could have dire consequences for gun safety across the country.
“The Supreme Court has erred in its decision,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, the Democratic Party’s chief negotiator on gun safety legislation, in an interview.
“I am deeply concerned about the court’s desire to deprive elected officials of the ability to protect our constituents, and this has serious consequences for the security of our country,” said Murphy, of Connecticut, where 26 people were killed. when shooting in a primary school in 2012
Conservatives defend a broad reading of the Second Amendment, which they say restricts most new restrictions on arms purchases.
The Senate’s 80-page Law on Two-Party Safer Communities will encourage states to keep guns out of the hands of those considered dangerous and tighten checks on potential gun buyers convicted of domestic violence or significant juvenile delinquency.
More than 20,800 people were killed in gun violence in the United States in 2022, including through homicide and suicide, according to a nonprofit research group on the Gun Violence Archive.
“MONUMENTAL VICTORY”
The Supreme Court ruling, authored by conservative Judge Clarence Thomas, declared that the Constitution protects “the right of the individual to carry a self-defense pistol outside the home.”
“This is a monumental victory for NRA members and gun owners across the country,” said Jason Wimeth, executive director of the National Arms Association’s Legislative Action Institute.
“This decision opens the door to a proper change in the law in the seven remaining states that do not yet recognize the right to carry firearms for personal protection.”
In the Senate, Republican supporters of the new gun safety bill said the measure did not undermine the rights of law-abiding gun owners, who are among their most zealous voters.
“It’s not so much about the rights of the vast majority of gun owners in the United States, who are law-abiding sane citizens,” said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who backs the bill.
The bill provides funding to help states pass “red flag” laws to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are considered a danger to themselves or others. It will also fund alternative interventions in countries where red flag laws are opposed, and will provide enhanced school security.
He closes the “boyfriend door” by denying the purchase of weapons to those convicted of abusing intimate dating partners, although if they have no other convictions or penalties, they will be allowed to buy again.
It also allows states to add criminal and mental files for juveniles to national databases to verify the past.
Senator John Cornin, the Republican’s lead negotiator on the bill, was booed last week as he discussed its contents during a speech to a Republican congress in his home state of Texas.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
Report by David Morgan, Andrew Chung and Moira Warburton; additional reports by Rose Horowitz, Catherine Jackson, Richard Cowen and Dan Whitcomb; Edited by Scott Malone, Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
Add Comment