A bipartisan group of senators has announced a potential breakthrough that could lead to the first major gun law in the United States in decades.
The framework for a firearms security bill is a response to last month’s mass shootings, but the proposal is far from the hardest steps President Joe Biden and many Democrats have long sought.
The plan includes support for “red flag” state laws that prevent potentially dangerous firearms, tougher criminal background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21, and crackdown on “straw purchases.” “by people who buy weapons for others who could not pass the background. to check.
President Biden and other Democrats have called for a ban on semi-automatic assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, or at least raising the minimum age for buying from 18 to 21.
The president said in a statement that the framework “does not do everything I think is necessary, 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.”
The suspects who killed 10 black people in a grocery store in Buffalo and 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, were 18 years old, and many of the perpetrators of the mass shootings in recent years were young.
Image: Hundreds of children have been the victims of mass shootings
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,” he told Reuters.
The deal was announced a day after tens of thousands of people gathered in Washington DC and the United States to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to curb armed violence.
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.
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0:46 Thousands of people protest over stricter gun laws in the United States
Read more: More than 700 people shot dead in U.S. shooting since Texas school shooting
Twenty senators, including 10 Republicans, issued a statement calling for approval of the plan.
This is potentially crucial because the biggest obstacle to enacting the measure is likely to be in the 50-50 Senate, where at least 10 GOP votes will be needed to reach the usual 60-vote threshold for approval.
“Families are afraid, and it is our duty to come together and do something to help them restore their sense of security and safety in their communities,” politicians said.
What does the framework include?
• The commitment would make the youth records of gun buyers under the age of 21 available when they undergo background checks. • Money will be offered to states to enact and implement “red flag” laws that facilitate the temporary taking of weapons from people considered potentially violent, as well as funds to strengthen school security and mental health programs. • Some people who sell weapons informally for profit should get licenses from federal distributors, which means they should do background checks on buyers • Condemned domestic abusers who do not live with an ex-partner, such as ex-boyfriends separated, they would be prohibited from buying firearms, and it would be a crime for a person to legally purchase a weapon for someone who would not qualify for the property.
The deal was quickly approved by groups that support gun restrictions, such as Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety and March for Our Lives, which staged nationwide rallies on Saturday.
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The National Rifle Association said in a statement that it opposes gun control and violates the “fundamental right of people to protect themselves and their loved ones,” but supports the strengthening of the school safety, mental health and law enforcement.
The group has long been influential with millions of gun-owning voters derailing gun control units in Congress.