WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate negotiators reached an agreement on a bipartisan bill on armed violence on Tuesday, potentially favoring the final approval over the weekend of an incremental but iconic package that would be Congress’ response to mass shootings in Texas and New York that shook the nation. .
Lawmakers released the 80-page bill nine days after agreeing a framework for the plan and 29 years after Congress last enacted major gun restrictions. He overcame an initial procedural hurdle by 64-34, with 14 Republicans joining the 48 Democrats and two independent allies to vote yes. This strongly supported a prediction by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., of approval later this week. The passage through the Democratic-led House could follow quickly.
While Republicans blocked tougher restrictions sought by Democrats, the deal marks a breakthrough in the election year on an issue that pits staunch gun owners and rural GOP voters against city-centered Democratic supporters of the limitation of firearms. This makes it one of the most incendiary cultural battlefields in politics and a sensitive vote for some lawmakers, especially Republicans who could alienate unconditional Second Amendment supporters.
The legislation would tighten background checks for younger gun buyers, require more vendors to do background checks, and tighten sanctions on arms dealers. It would also disburse money to states and communities to improve school safety and mental health initiatives.
Contributors estimated the measure would cost about $ 15 billion, which Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, the top Democratic negotiator, said would be fully paid for.
Resolving one last hurdle that delayed the deal, the bill would prohibit sentimental couples convicted of domestic violence and unmarried from their victims from obtaining firearms. Convicted abusers who are married, live with their victims or have children with their victims are already prohibited from carrying weapons.
The pledge prohibits weapons from a person who has “a current or recent dating relationship with the victim.” This is defined in part as one between people “who have had or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.” A criminal’s ability to possess a weapon could be restored after five years if he has not committed another serious crime.
In another late dispute, the bill would provide $ 750 million to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have “red flag” laws that facilitate the temporary seizure of firearms from people considered dangerous and to other states with programs. of violence prevention. States with “red flag” laws that receive the funds should have legal processes in place for the gun owner to fight the withdrawal of the firearm.
The push in Congress for gun legislation has a history of rapid decline following the mass shootings. Lawmakers are scheduled to begin a two-week hiatus on July 4 this weekend.
The legislation does not have much more powerful proposals that President Joe Biden supports, and Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for years, derailed by the Republican opposition. These include a ban on assault weapons or raising the minimum age for buying them, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and a requirement for background checks on virtually all arms sales. .
However, after 10 black shoppers were killed last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers died days later in Uvalde, Texas, Democrats and some Republicans decided that this time, the steps measured they were preferable to the usual reaction of Congress to these horrors. – lock.
Murphy said that after Buffalo and Uvalde, “I saw a level of fear in the faces of the parents and children I talked to that I had never seen before.” He said his colleagues also found anxiety among voters “not only about the safety of their children, but also about the government’s ability to get to that point and do something and do something meaningful.”
This bill, Murphy said, “would save thousands of lives.” Prior to joining the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members were killed in a mass shooting in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the GOP’s chief negotiator, said of the pact: “Some people think it’s going too far, others think it’s not going far enough. And I understand that. It’s the nature of the compromise.”
But he added: “I think the same people who tell us we do something send us a clear message, that we are doing our best to keep our children and communities safe. I’m sure this legislation is moving us in a positive direction.”
On a positive note about his fate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. horrifying are less likely as long as the rights of the Second Amendment law are fully complied with. ”“ Faithful citizens. ”
The National Rifle Association, which has spent decades derailing gun control legislation, has expressed opposition. “It falls short at all levels. It doesn’t take long to tackle violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary charges for the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,” he said. say the gun pressure group.
It seemed likely that most Republicans, especially in the House, would oppose the legislation.
Underlining the reaction that Republican lawmakers supporting the pact will face more far-right voters, delegates booed Cornyn at her state’s Republican convention in Houston on Saturday as she outlined the proposal.
In another measure of conservative sentiment, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, tweeted that the bill “ignores the wave of national crime and removes the fundamental rights of citizens who respect law “. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., A possible White House candidate, said he would “restrict the freedoms of law-abiding Americans and put too much power in the hands of politicians and political officials.”
The measure will need at least 10 Republican votes to reach the 60-vote threshold often needed by major Senate bills 50-50. Cornyn told reporters he expected at least 10 Republican votes for the measure.
What is not certain is whether the move would mark the beginning of a slow but gradual action to curb armed violence, or the high point of the issue. As far as Buffalo and Uvalde, a sleepy parade of mass killings, in places like elementary and high schools, houses of worship, military installations, bars and the Las Vegas Strip, has only left Washington deadlocked.
“Thirty years, murder after murder, suicide after suicide, mass shooting after mass shooting, Congress did nothing,” Murphy said. “This week we have the opportunity to break this 30-year period of silence with a bill that changes our laws in a way that will save thousands of lives.”
The bill would require that federal background checks on gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 20 include an examination of the buyer’s juvenile record. This could add up to seven more days to the current three-day limit on background checks.
The suspects in the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings were 18 years old, a profile that matches many recent mass shooters.
There would be hundreds of millions of dollars to expand community behavioral health centers, telemedicine visits for mental specialists, and train first responders to treat people with mental health problems. More than $ 2 billion will be provided to hire and train staff for school mental health services, including $ 300 million to improve school safety.
Congress banned assault weapons in 1993 in a ban that expired after a decade, the last general law of lawmakers addressing armed violence.
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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.