- Biden praises the agreement as a step in the right direction
- The deal follows the Texas school massacre and the Buffalo shootings
WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – In a possible move toward the first major U.S. gun law in decades, a bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday an agreement on a framework for a U.S. security bill. guns with enough Republican support to advance in the narrow divided Senate.
The plan, praised by President Joe Biden, includes support for “red flag” state laws that prevent firearms from potentially dangerous people, tougher criminal background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21, and a crackdown on “straw purchases” by people buying weapons for others who have failed to pass a background check.
Developed following last month’s massacres at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, the framework is far less ambitious than the proposals by Biden and other Democrats to ban semi-automatic assault rifles and magazines. high capacity or at least increase the minimum age to buy from 18 to 21 years.
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Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who led the negotiating effort with Republican Sen. John Cornyn, said “heavy work is behind us” after three weeks of intensive talks, although there is still a significant amount. of work “. Murphy said he was waiting for Senate approval in early August or sooner.
“We will start writing (legislative) text in the early hours of Monday morning,” Murphy told Reuters.
The deal was announced a day after tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington and the United States to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to curb armed violence. Read more
While this is a major step forward, the agreement does not guarantee that the legislation will be passed. Legislators have yet to draft a legislative language that can attract enough votes to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives, each controlled by Democrats.
The Republican opposition has been instrumental in thwarting Democratic-backed arms control proposals in Congress that go back to the 1994 approval of an assault weapons ban that expired a decade later.
The United States has the highest rate of gun deaths among the world’s richest nations. But it is a country where many appreciate gun rights, and the Second Amendment to its constitution protects the right to “own and carry weapons.”
Sunday’s announcement is the furthest from talks on gun reform in Congress since 2013, when legislation failed in the Senate following a 2012 Connecticut elementary school massacre. Murphy, representing Connecticut, he has spent much of his career in the Senate for a decade in gun control after the tragedy.
“Our plan saves lives while protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans,” Murphy and Cornyn said in a joint statement.
The group that accepted the framework included 10 Republicans, nine Democrats and an independent who caucus with the Democrats.
Protesters hold banners as they participate in the “March for Our Lives,” one of a series of national protests against armed violence, in Washington, DC, USA, June 11, 2022. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts
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A spokesman for the National Rifle Association said the influential gun rights group will not take a stand on the framework until the detailed legislative text is finalized. He said the NRA would oppose any effort to deprive Americans of their gun rights.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
“There had been conventional wisdom that politicians had accepted that the NRA could not be crossed. Otherwise, it would pay off,” Christian Heyne, vice president of policy for arms control group Brady, told Reuters.
FILIBUSTRE BOOK
With 10 Republicans indicating their support, this would surpass the Senate’s “filibuster” rule that required 60 of the 100 senators to agree to advance most of the legislation. Republicans who oppose the plan are expected to pose procedural hurdles in trying to block it.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell did not accept the framework, but said he expected progress on bipartisan talks.
Biden congratulated the deal on Sunday.
“It doesn’t do everything I think it should, but it reflects important steps in the right direction and would be the most important arms security legislation that has been passed in Congress in decades,” Biden said in a statement. “With bipartisan support, there is no excuse for being late and there is no reason not to go through the Senate and the House quickly.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he wanted to move a bill quickly once the legislative details are finalized. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also backed the deal, saying in a statement: “While more is needed, this package will take life-saving measures.”
The measure would provide federal funding to encourage states to pass “red flag” laws that keep guns away from people whom the courts consider a significant danger to themselves or others.
Congress would provide more funding to expand mental health programs, including those run in schools, and crack down on those who evade gun license requirements or buy weapons illegally on behalf of others, transactions called “straw purchases”.
The plan would also require new government controls on under-21s trying to buy weapons so that juvenile mental health records can be reviewed, along with controls with state and local law enforcement agencies.
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Report by Richard Cowan in Washington and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone
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