A source familiar with the matter said negotiators hoped to persuade 10 Republican senators to sign the agreement before it was announced, in order to show that they could exceed the 60-vote threshold. The Senate is currently evenly distributed between the Democratic and GOP conferences with 50 seats each. Sources in the talks said the outline of the agreement includes funding to motivate states to enforce “red flag” laws, an expansion of mental health services through the development of a 10-state pilot program for behavioral health services, and in 50 states, allowing juvenile records to be searched during history checks for people under 21 and funding for school security measures. It would also change the history control system to better fight criminals who evade this system by using smaller “hobbyists” to buy illegal weapons. The agreement is not expected to include a series of provisions put forward by President Joe Biden and supporters of arms control, namely the renewal of the so-called assault ban and raising the age for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. The four main Senate negotiators – Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Kirsten Cinema of Arizona – Republican Sen. John Cornin of Texas and Tom Tillis of North Weekend to find the latest details and also participated in discussions with a larger bipartisan negotiating team. The House voted 223-204 last week to pass a broad package of arms control legislation called the Child Protection Act. . However, the measure is not expected to pass the Senate, amid widespread opposition from the Democratic Party for stricter arms control. The passage of the law in Parliament took place a few hours after an emotional hearing on armed violence in which the families of the victims called for more action. Maryland Democrat Jamie Ruskin on Sunday praised Senate negotiators for their work on the bill, but stopped expressing support for the forthcoming package. “Well, we would definitely vote for it and work on it,” he told the State of the Union when asked if he would vote in favor of the bill, adding: “It is moving in the right direction. We are glad the Senate has finally woken up to this.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, later said in the same program that she would be willing to support the legislation “if we take a real step for a baby, not as a distraction, I think, from the solution.” He stressed that the inclusion of a provision for background checks is crucial. “You know, I think if we can pass the history checks, I hope – I hope it does,” said Ocasio-Cortez. CNN’s Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.