A bipartisan group of U.S. senators announced on Sunday a framework for potential gun safety legislation in response to the recent mass shootings in parts of the country.
The outline includes measured curbs for weapons and intensified efforts to improve school safety and mental health programs.
“Our plan saves lives while protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans,” said a statement from the group, led by Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy and Texas Republican John Cornin. “We look forward to gaining broad, bipartisan support and accepting our reasonable proposal into law.
The proposal lacks the tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats.
In a statement, Biden said the framework “does not do everything I think is necessary, but reflects important steps in the right direction and would be the most important arms security legislation that Congress will pass in decades.”
Given the bipartisan support, “there is no excuse for the delay and the reason why it should not pass quickly through the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
If the agreement led to the passage of legislation, it would signal a reversal of years of gun killings that have led to a small but deadlock in Congress.
Senate leaders hope to pass any agreement into law soon – probably this month – following the deadly mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, the Tops supermarket and in Uwalde, Texas, a primary school, as well as other mass shootings and gun killings.
A day before the fifth anniversary of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub, a visitor looks at a display with photos and names of the 49 people killed on June 12, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. Sunday marked the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting. (John Rau / Associated Press)
The agreement came a day after tens of thousands of people in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of other places in the United States gathered to demand lawmakers pass legislation aimed at curbing gun violence. It also marks the sixth anniversary of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub, the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in US history that killed 49 people and injured 53 in Orlando, Florida.
Lawmakers cite “scared” families
Twenty senators, including 10 Republicans, are calling for the framework agreement to be adopted. In the Senate 50-50, at least 10 Republican votes will be needed to reach the usual threshold of 60 votes in favor.
“Families are frightened and it is our duty to come together and do something that will help restore their sense of security and safety in their communities,” the legislators, who drafted the framework agreement, said in a statement.
Senate negotiators said the details and legislative language would be written in the coming days.
But here are some of what is included in the framework:
- Minors’ files on gun buyers under the age of 21 will be available as part of inspections. (The people accused of killing 10 blacks at a grocery store in Buffalo and 19 students and two teachers at Uwalde School were 18 years old.)
- State money will be offered to enforce red flag laws and to strengthen school safety and mental health programs. {A law with a red flaw allows courts to issue a special protection order that allows police to temporarily confiscate weapons from people of concern, such as making threats.}
- More people who sell guns will have to obtain licenses from federal dealers, which means they will have to carry out checks on buyers.
- Domestic abusers who do not live with an ex-partner, such as ex-boyfriends, will be banned from buying firearms.
- It would be a crime for a person to buy a legal weapon for someone who would not meet the property requirements.
Aides to Congress have said billions of dollars will be spent on expanding the number of community mental health centers and suicide prevention programs, but other cost figures remain uncertain.
It is unclear how long it will take to finalize the agreement. But the parties’ shared desire to demonstrate a response to the recent skirmishes suggested that the impetus for acceptance was strong.
The mass shootings led to closed-door talks
The mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo sparked two weeks of closed-door talks between groups of senators led by Murphy, Cornin, North Carolina Republican Tom Tillis and Arizona Democrat Kirsten Cinema.
But while lawmakers are acting on voters’ increased desire to act in Congress, Republicans are still opposed to the broader steps sought by Democrats. These include banning assault firearms, such as the AR-15-style rifles used in Buffalo and Uwalde, or raising the legal age for purchasing them. The AR-15 is a powerful semi-automatic weapon that can fire high-capacity cartridges and has been used in many mass shootings in recent years, including the Pulse nightclub killings.
A protester at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn held a plaque behind the crosses with the names of the victims of the shooting in Uwalde, Texas, last month. The protest in New York was among the Marches for Our Lives rallies against gun violence that took place in the United States on Saturday. (Gina Moon / Reuters)
Democrats also wanted to ban high-capacity magazines and expand the necessary checks of the past to many more gun purchases.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives last week approved strong bills banning the sale of semi-automatic weapons to people under 21 and high-capacity magazines, giving federal courts the power to rule when local authorities want to remove weapons from people considered dangerous. Currently, only 19 states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws.
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