The proposal is far from the hardest steps President Joe Biden and many Democrats have sought in the past. Even so, the agreement was espoused by Biden, and the enactment would mark a major turning point after years of slaughtered weapons that yielded little but a stalemate in Congress. Biden said in a statement that the framework “does not do what I think is needed, but reflects important steps in the right direction and would be the most important gun safety legislation to be passed in Congress in decades.” Given the bipartisan support, “there are no excuses for the delay and no reason why it should not be passed quickly by the Senate and Parliament,” he said. Leaders hope to push any deal into law quickly – they hope this month – before the political momentum that has been shattered by recent mass shootings in New York’s Buffalo and Texas’ Uvalde has waned. As a result, 20 senators, including 10 Republicans, issued a statement calling for a vote. This is potentially crucial, as the biggest obstacle to passing the measure is probably in the Senate with 50-50 votes, 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 unite and do something that will help restore a sense of security and safety in their communities,” lawmakers said. The group, led by Senators Chris Murphy, D-Conn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Thom Tillis, RN.C., and Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., Drafted the deal after two weeks of closed-door talks. . The compromise would make the records of underage arms buyers under the age of 21 available when undergoing a background check. The suspects who killed 10 blacks at a Buffalo grocery store and 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde were both 18 years old and many of the perpetrators of the mass shootings in recent years were young. The agreement will provide states with money to enact and enforce “red flag” laws that will facilitate the temporary acquisition of weapons by individuals considered potentially violent, plus funds to boost school safety and mental health programs. Some people who sell unofficial weapons for profit will have to obtain federal dealership licenses, which means they will have to carry out a background check. Convicted domestic abusers who do not live with an ex-partner, such as estranged ex-friends, would be prohibited from buying firearms and it would be a crime for a person to legally purchase a firearm for someone who does not qualify for the property. Negotiators said the details and legislative language would be written in the coming days. Aides to Congress said billions of dollars would be spent on expanding the number of community mental health centers and suicide prevention programs, but said many spending decisions had not been made. The finalization of the agreement could provoke new disagreements and it was not clear how long it would last. However, underlining the pressures of the pre-election year from Buffalo and Ovalde, the common desire of the parties to show a response to these shootings, indicated that the momentum towards the establishment was strong. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer, DN.Y., called the agreement “a good first step in ending the persistent inaction on the gun violence epidemic” and said he would put the measure to a vote as soon as possible. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Who has backed the talks, was more restrained. He praised the work of the negotiators and said he hoped for an agreement that would “make significant progress on key issues such as mental health and school safety, respect the Second Amendment, gain widespread support in the Senate and make a difference for our country.” The deal was quickly ratified by pro-gun groups such as Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety and March for Our Lives, which rallied across the country on Saturday. A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, which has long been in power to derail gun control moves in Congress, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agreement represents the lowest common denominator compromise on armed violence, not a complete change in Congress. Lawmakers have shown a new desire to move forward after saying their voters have shown increased willingness to act in Congress by Buffalo and Ovalde, but Republicans still oppose more sweeping steps Democrats want. These include banning assault rifles, such as the AR-15 rifles used in Buffalo and Uvalde, or raising the legal age for their purchase. AR-15s are popular and powerful semi-automatic weapons that can fire large-capacity magazines and have been used in many of the country’s highest-profile massacres in recent years. One of them, the murder of 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, happened six years ago on Sunday. Democrats also wanted to ban high-capacity cartridges and extend the required background checks to much more arms markets. None of these proposals have a chance in Congress. Underscoring this, the Democrat-controlled House passed sweeping bills last week that ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons to people under the age of 21 and high-capacity magazines and give federal courts the power to decide when local authorities want to remove weapons. by persons considered dangerous. Currently, only 19 states and the District of Columbia have red flag laws. These measures will not go anywhere in the Senate, where Republicans can block them. The last major firearms restriction enacted by lawmakers was the 1994 arms embargo, which Congress allowed to expire 10 years later. For years, congressional Republicans representing rural pro-gun voters have blocked strict restrictions on the firearms market, citing a second amendment to the Constitution. Democrats, whose overwhelming majority support arms restraints, are reluctant to adopt phased steps that they believe would allow GOP lawmakers to say they tried to stem the tide of violence without actually addressing the issue.
