“I’ve never seen families and kids and parents as scared as they were after Uvalde,” Senator Christopher S. They also agreed that the enhanced background checks for younger buyers would expire after a decade, just as the assault weapons ban did in 2004, leaving future Congresses to haggle anew about whether to extend it.īut it included substantial breakthroughs beyond what Democrats had initially thought possible when they set out to find a modest deal that could, at the very least, show that Congress was capable of responding to national crisis. Toiling to keep Republicans on board, Democrats left out their marquee gun control proposals, including a House-passed measure that would prohibit the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people younger than 21, a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines and a federal red flag law. The compromise, the product of an intense round of talks between a small group of Democrats and Republicans, omits many of the sweeping gun control measures that Democrats and activists have long called for. “I hope it will be viewed favorably by voters in the suburbs we need to regain to be in the majority next year.” McConnell told reporters on Thursday night. “It’s no secret that we’ve lost ground in suburban areas,” Mr. He also conceded that he and other Republicans saw a clear political advantage in supporting the legislation in a midterm election year in which their path to winning control of Congress runs through the suburbs, where their party’s hard-right lurch has alienated many voters. McConnell praised Democrats for being “willing to give up their wish list” and accept less than they have insisted on in past efforts at revamping gun laws. Still, a small group of Democrats and Republicans seized on the outrage that followed the massacre in Uvalde almost exactly one month ago and a racist mass shooting in Buffalo days before that to forge a modest compromise that could succeed where earlier attempts had repeatedly failed. Most Republicans opposed the bill, and most of those backing it will not face voters this year, suggesting that the measure was less an opening for a new era of bipartisan consensus on gun violence than a rare moment of agreement that may soon give way to more gridlock, particularly if Republicans win control of Congress this fall. The vote tally also underscored how deeply polarizing the issue remains, and how fleeting the spirit of compromise around guns may be. The bipartisan breakthrough came on the same day that the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying guns outside the home, reflecting a stark divergence between the conservative-leaning court and the Democratic-controlled Congress on one of the most politically intractable issues in the country. White House officials have said President Biden would sign it, calling the bill “one of the most significant steps Congress has taken to reduce gun violence in decades.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced on Thursday night that the House would move to take up the measure on Friday morning. “It’s significant - it’s going to save lives.” “This is not a cure-all for all the ways gun violence affects our nation, but it is a long overdue step in the right direction,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor. It also includes hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for mental health programs and to beef up security in schools. And it would tighten a federal ban on domestic abusers buying firearms, and strengthen laws against straw purchasing and trafficking of guns. The bill would provide incentives for states to pass “red flag” laws that allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them. It would enhance background checks for prospective gun buyers ages 18 to 21, requiring for the first time that juvenile records, including mental health records beginning at age 16, be vetted for potentially disqualifying material.
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