WASHINGTON (AP) – A modest but broad measure of armed violence moved within a tab of House approval Friday, a vote that would send the measure to President Joe Biden and illustrate progress on the insoluble issue for a long time and a deep partisan division. which persists.
The Democratic-led chamber was on track to approve the package a day after the Senate approved it by a bipartisan margin of 65-33, with 15 Republicans joining all Democrats in support. The legislation was drafted by senators from both parties following public outcry over last month’s mass shootings in New York and Texas, but the much more ideological vote in the House was expected to fall sharply along the lines of the party.
The measure would progressively tighten requirements for young people to buy weapons, deny firearms to more domestic aggressors and help local authorities temporarily take up arms from people considered dangerous. Most of its $ 13 billion cost would go toward strengthening mental health programs and schools, which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida and many other infamous massacres.
And while the legislation omits the much tougher restrictions Democrats have long advocated, it was the most shocking measure of armed violence Congress has passed since it enacted a nearly 30-year-old arms ban. ‘assault, which has already expired.
The election year bill was the direct result of the murder of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, exactly one month ago, and the murder of 10 black shoppers days earlier. in Buffalo, New York. Lawmakers returned from their districts after those shootings saying voters demanded action in Congress, a vehemence that many felt could not be ignored.
“No legislation can integrate their families or communities,” House Judicial Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y .. said about these victims. “But we can act to prevent others from facing the same trauma.”
For conservatives who dominate Republicans in the House, it all came down to the right of the Second Amendment to the Constitution for people to have firearms, a protection that is key for many voters who own guns.
“Today will come after our Second Amendment liberties, and who knows what tomorrow will be,” said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican in the judicial panel.
Impossible to ignore was the juxtaposition of the arms votes of the week with a couple of discordant Supreme Court decisions on two of the most incendiary cultural war issues in the country. Judges overturned a New York law on Thursday that restricted people’s ability to carry concealed weapons, and on Friday overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the protection for abortion that this case had secured for half a century.
Leading House Republicans called for a “no” vote on the arms package. GOP No. 2 leader Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise told colleagues by email that the bill was “an effort to slowly remove the rights of the second amendment from law-abiding citizens.”
This did not stop 15 Republicans from the Senate from supporting the commitment, but it still meant that less than a third of Republican senators supported the measure. And with Republicans in the House expected to stand firmly opposed, the fate of future congressional gun action seems doubtful, though the GOP is expected to gain control of the House and possibly the Senate. in the November elections.
The bill lacked preferred Democratic proposals, such as a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition depots used in the Buffalo and Uvalde assassinations. But the measure still allowed both sides to declare victory by showing voters that they know how to commit and run the government.
However, Senate votes highlighted the suspicion most Republicans feel about challenging party pro-gun voters and gun groups like the National Rifle Association. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana were the only two of 15 candidates for re-election this fall. Of the rest, four are retiring and eight will not face voters until 2026.
It is revealing that GOP senators who voted “no” included potential 2024 presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Cruz said the legislation “would disarm law-abiding citizens instead of taking serious steps to protect our children.”
The talks that produced the bill were led by Senators Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, RN.C. Murphy represented Newtown, Connecticut, when an assailant killed 20 students and six Sandy Hook Elementary School staff members in 2012, while Cornyn has been involved in previous gun talks following the mass shootings in his state and is in near McConnell.
The bill would make available local youth records of people between the ages of 18 and 20 during mandatory federal background checks when attempting to purchase weapons. These exams, currently limited to three days, would have a maximum duration of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search for records.
People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would have been prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called “groove of the groom”.
Currently, this prohibition only applies to people who are married to the victim, who live, or who have had children with the victim.
There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have these laws.
The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of federally licensed arms dealers needed to carry them out. Sanctions for arms trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs, and there is money for school safety initiatives, though not for staff to use a “dangerous weapon.”