<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656083322865,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017f-1e8d-dbf3-a77f-9fef485e0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656083322865,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017f-1e8d-dbf3-a77f-9fef485e0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
$bp("Brid_56083313", {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1038980"}); ","_id":"00000181-9642-d789-a3f7-9f6613140000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe House passed bipartisan gun legislation on Friday, setting up the bill for President Joe Biden’s signature on the most substantial firearm reforms to become law in more than 25 years.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, passed the Senate 65-33 on Thursday evening, with 15 Republicans voting for the measure. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) negotiated the guns bill.
SENATE PASSES BIPARTISAN GUN LEGISLATION, SENDING MEASURE TO HOUSE
The measure includes language to incentivize states to implement red flag laws, which would make it easier for law enforcement to confiscate a firearm and block the purchase of a gun if a person is deemed to be a danger to oneself or others. The bill would also look to tighten background checks on people under 21 looking to purchase a gun. It would further close the so-called boyfriend loophole by tightening background checks on gun purchases of those convicted of domestic violence or certain crimes as minors in addition to providing money for trauma support, school safety, and mental health programs.
The measure’s swift move through Congress comes in the wake of an uptick in mass shootings in recent months, with the death of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, 10 being killed in a grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York, and a hospital shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that left four dead. These episodes, on top of years of mass shootings around the country, have sparked calls for Congress to take action to curb gun violence.
Democrats said they would have liked to have seen more dramatic reforms, with some advocating for a ban on assault weapons and the age to purchase a firearm raised to 21. But they praised the bipartisan measure as a step in the right direction.
“Today, Madam Speaker, we take a historic first step toward ending the epidemic of gun violence in this nation — the only developed nation with this problem. We come to this moment after the tragic loss of so many innocent lives — 10 African Americans in Buffalo targeted because of their race, 19 young students and two teaches for the Uvalde just a few days short of their summer vacations,” House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said on the floor ahead of the vote.
“Scores more lost in other mass shootings too numerous to mention. Over 100 more Americans are killed every day in gun violence that never makes the headlines,” he added. “No piece of legislation can ever bring these lives back. No legislation can make their families or the communities whole. But we can act to keep others from facing the same trauma that they have endured.”
House GOP leadership whipped against the bill, with critics arguing that the language on red flag laws fails to ensure the right to due process and infringes on Second Amendment rights.
“More important than this debate, red flag laws subvert due process protections and threaten the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) said on the House floor. “Why would we agree to borrow more money we don’t have so that the federal government can give it to states to enact laws that don’t work and that actually threaten the rights of our citizens?”
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Biden is expected to sign the legislation in the coming days.
Fourteen House Republicans joined all the Democrats in passing the bill: Reps. Steve Chabot (OH), Liz Cheney (WY), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Tony Gonzales (TX), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Chris Jacobs (NY), David Joyce (OH), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Peter Meijer (MI), Tom Rice (SC), Maria Salazar (FL), Mike Turner (OH), and Fred Upton (MI).
