WASHINGTON –
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including enough Republicans to override the House’s “filibuster” rule, announced Sunday an agreement on a framework for possible arms security legislation.
The bill included support for “red flag” state laws, tougher background checks on gun buyers under the age of 21, and a crackdown on a so-called “straw shopping” practice, but not others. limits that Democrats and President Joe Biden had advocated, such as raising the age to buy semi-automatics. rifles at 21 or new limits on assault rifles.
Ten Republicans expressed support for the preliminary agreement, saying the move could lead to a vote on approval and overcome blockades by other Republicans who oppose most arms control measures.
The talks led to a series of high-profile mass shootings in the United States, including one at a school in Uvalde, Texas, last month that killed 19 young children and one in May in Buffalo. New York. supermarket that killed 10 black victims.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, issued a statement calling the plan a “good first step” and “limiting the ability of potential mass shooters to quickly obtain assault rifles by establishing an improved background check process for buyers of minor weapons. ” 21. “
Schumer said he wanted to move a bill to a Senate vote quickly once the legislative details are resolved.
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.”
“Our plan saves lives while protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans,” the group, led by Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican John Cornyn, said in a statement. “We hope to gain broad, bipartisan support and pass our common-sense proposal to the law.”
The deal was announced a day after tens of thousands of people in Washington and hundreds of other places in the United States gathered to demand that lawmakers pass legislation aimed at curbing armed violence.
Biden, a Democrat, called on June 2 to ban the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines or, if that was not possible, to raise the minimum age for buying such weapons from 18 to 21. years. Biden also pushed for the waiver of liability. shield that protects weapons manufacturers from being sued for violence perpetrated by people carrying their weapons.
The National Rifle Association, an influential arms rights group closely aligned with Republicans, called Biden’s proposals a violation of the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Republican opposition has been critical of thwarting Democratic-backed arms control proposals in Congress for decades.
The Senate is divided, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, and legislation must have 60 votes to overcome a maneuver known as the filibuster.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)