WASHINGTON – The Senate on Tuesday removed the first hurdle to a bipartisan measure aimed at holding firearms in the hands of dangerous people, agreeing to pass a compromise bill that would end a long stalemate in federal anti-violence legislation. .
Although the bill does not meet the broad arms control measures that Democrats have long called for, approving it would be the most significant action in decades to revise national weapons laws. The 64 to 34 vote came just hours after Republicans and Democrats released the text of the law and days of hectic talks to clarify the details.
Supporters hope to adopt it by Saturday, and Democrat leaders have released it in a fast-moving direction on the normally slow Senate floor.
The 80-page bill, entitled “Two-Party Safe Communities Act”, will step up checks on the past by giving authorities 10 working days to review the files on minors and mental health records of gun buyers under the age of 21 and direct millions to support states to enforce so-called red flag laws, which allow authorities to temporarily confiscate weapons from people considered dangerous, as well as other intervention programs.
The measure will also, for the first time, ensure that serious dating partners are included in a federal law banning domestic abusers from buying firearms, a long-standing priority that has eluded gun safety advocates for years.
Senators have agreed to provide millions of dollars to expand mental health resources in communities and schools in addition to funding for school safety. In addition, the law will increase penalties for those who evade licensing requirements or make illegal purchases of “straw”, purchase and subsequent sale of weapons to people who are prohibited from buying guns.
The margin of votes – and the swift support of top leaders of both parties – shows that the measure has more than enough support to scale up the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican filibuster who has thwarted similar legislation in the past and to come to a final transition in the coming days.
Fourteen Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, joined the Democrats in pushing the bill. Two Republican senators were absent; one of them, Senator Patrick J. Tumi of Pennsylvania said in a statement.
Supporters had hoped to win final Senate approval for the legislation ahead of a planned break for July 4th, with the House expected to follow suit quickly. The National Rifle Association almost immediately declared its opposition, and the vast majority of Republican officials backed it.
But both Senate leaders were quick to come out with statements of public support, suggesting that public sentiment in favor of tightening gun laws, especially after the recent mass shootings, has finally broken through in Congress. Mr McConnell called the bill “a sensible package of popular steps that will help make these horrific incidents less likely, while fully preserving the rights of the Second Amendment to law-abiding citizens”.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the majority, said he expected the law to be passed by the end of the week.
“This bipartisan arms security legislation is progress and will save lives,” he said before the vote. “While this is not all we want, this legislation is urgently needed.
The shock of the talks has been sparked by two mass shootings in the past two months: a shooting at an elementary school in Uwalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two teachers, and a racist attack that killed 10 blacks at a Buffalo supermarket. Human devastation has brought the issue of gun violence to the forefront of Capitol Hill, where years of efforts to impose gun restrictions following such attacks have failed amid Republican opposition.
As 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats announced their agreement on a bipartisan scheme less than two weeks ago, leading negotiators Senator Christopher C. Murphy of Connecticut and Kirsten Cinema of Arizona, both Democrats, and John Cornin of Texas and Tom Tillis of North Carolina, both Republicans, have spent hours hammering out details and working to keep their fragile coalition together.
“Today, we finalized bipartisan, common sense legislation to protect American children, protect our schools, and reduce the threat of violence across our country,” the four senators said in a statement. “Our legislation will save lives and will not violate the rights of Americans under the Second Amendment. We look forward to gaining broad, bipartisan support and enacting our common sense legislation into law. “
Last week, negotiations were repeatedly on the verge of failure, as lawmakers struggled late at night to figure out how to translate their outlines into legislation. The group spent the three-day weekend shopping for details.
The title of the bill reflects this careful negotiation – in particular, it emphasizes “safety” and not any specific restrictions on a natural person’s right to own or purchase a firearm. This was in line with the way Republicans discussed the framework agreement, emphasizing all Democrats’ efforts to restrict access to weapons they managed to avoid from the final bill.
In its final form, much of the bill was spent on mental health investment, according to a summary reviewed by The New York Times. It includes $ 60 million over five years to provide mental health and behavioral training for primary care clinicians, $ 150 million to support the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, and $ 240 million over four years for Project AWARE, a program that focuses on supporting mental health for children at school, $ 28 million of which is earmarked for trauma care in schools.
Two provisions have proved particularly difficult in recent days of negotiations: whether to extend red flag enforcement to countries that do not have such laws, and how exactly to identify a boyfriend or intimate partner, as lawmakers sought to close what he has becomes known as the “boyfriend door”.
Current legislation prohibits only domestic abusers who have been married or have lived with the victim, or have had a child with them, from buying firearms. Lawmakers have expanded the definition to include “current or recent former relationship with the victim”, although the change cannot be applied retroactively.
Negotiators also agreed to allow dating partners convicted of a crime to regain the right to buy weapons after five years, provided they are first-time perpetrators and have not been found guilty of another violent crime or offense.
And lawmakers have agreed to give states access to federal funds, either to enforce red flag laws or to support what Mr. Cornin described as “crisis intervention programs,” including programs related to mental health courts. health, drug courts and veterans courts.
The bill will be funded by delaying the implementation of the Medicare rule approved by former President Donald J. Trump, which will limit hidden concessions agreed between pharmaceutical companies and insurers.
A majority of Republicans in the Senate still opposed the measure, claiming it violated the rights of gun owners. Over the weekend, Texas Republicans booed Mr. Cornin and moved officially to “reproach” him and eight other Republicans for their role in the talks.
Some progressive Democrats, especially in the House of Representatives, where they have drafted much more ambitious legislation on arms reform, have expressed concern about the idea of ”hardening” schools or further condemning the fight against mental health.
But arms security activists and groups such as the NAACP, which supports broader arms legislation, said they would support it in trying to address at least some aspects of the country’s crisis.
“When students, churchgoers and grocery shoppers are shot, the ideal cannot be the enemy of good,” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP president.
“This bipartisan legislation meets the most important test: it will save lives,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown Weapons Security. “We are now one step closer to overcoming the 26-year-old difficulty that has blocked congressional action to protect Americans from gun violence.
Margo Sanger-Katz contributed to the report.
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