“One Giant Leap” for the organization Moms Demand Action, which campaigns for a stricter framework for arms sales. Democratic and Republican senators on Tuesday (June 21) unveiled a bill to restrict gun violence after a series of deadly shootings. Even if it remains far below the measures called for by President Joe Biden, the document is still a first for decades.
The text highlights in particular the support for laws, State by State, which would allow the weapons they possess to be removed from the hands of people deemed to be dangerous. It also plans to strengthen criminal and psychological background checks for gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21, as well as better control of the illegal sale of weapons, and the funding of programs dedicated to mental health.
The “most important legislation in almost 30 years”
It is “the most significant gun violence legislation in almost 30 years”, tweeted Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. This 80-page text “will save thousands of lives”, he added. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Senate Democrats, also called the text“advanced”. “While not all we wanted, this legislation is urgently needed”he said in a statement.
Here it is, folks – the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant piece of anti-gun violence legislation in nearly 30 years.
This bill is going to save thousands of lives.
1/ We just released the text. Let me tell you what it does:
—Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 21, 2022
Republican John Cornyn, who worked with Chris Murphy on the project, said it was about making attacks like the one in Uvalde, which left 21 people dead including 19 children at a Texas elementary school late. may be “less likely to happen, while protecting the Second Amendment” of the Constitution, which permits the possession of firearms. “I am proud that this proposed Mental Health and School Safety Act places no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners”he added on Twitter.
The NRA, the arms lobby, immediately expressed its opposition to the text, judging on the contrary that it could be used to “restrict purchases of legal weapons”. The project “leaves too much leeway to state officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions, inviting interference in our constitutional freedoms”she said.
