The United States Senate passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on Thursday.
The act was the first major gun control bill Congress has passed since the 1994 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
The bill — led by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas — passed with 65 votes for and 33 against. Fifteen Republicans voted for the legislation.
The bill was the results of bipartisan negotiations on gun control following the tragic May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Earlier, 14 Senate Republicans had sided with Democrats on Tuesday in voting to advance the bill to the Senate floor.
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“I am proud that after weeks of hard work, the Senate passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a bill I negotiated with my colleagues,” Cornyn said, according to Fox News. “Our bill will save lives while placing no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.”
“We’ve been building a movement around ending gun violence for 10 years, and we said one day we’d be strong enough to beat the gun lobby, and here we are,” Murphy said, according to The Washington Post.
The bill sets aside millions of dollars in funding for states enforcing red-flag laws, denying individuals the right to possess a firearm if they are found by a judge to be a threat to themselves or their community.
The legislation also assigns money for school safety and crisis intervention programs and shuts the “boyfriend loophole”; hitherto, only those accused of domestic violence in marital relationships could be deprived of their Second Amendment rights.
Will this bill survive a challenge in the Supreme Court?
Yes: 0% (0 Votes)
No: 0% (0 Votes)
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