Senate votes to advance bipartisan gun deal, breaking 30-year logjam

Source: Washington Post

The Senate on Tuesday night advanced a bill that would toughen federal gun laws and provide billions of dollars in new money to prevent future mass shootings after negotiators settled key disagreements, putting the legislation on course to be passed into law later this month.

The breakthrough came more than a week after 20 senators — 10 from each party — signed on to a framework agreement that coupled modest new gun restrictions with some $15 billion in new federal funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades. The release Tuesday evening of the 80-page Bipartisan Safer Communities Act concluded a crash effort to translate those elements into fine legislative detail, one that appeared to be in jeopardy late last week.

Tuesday’s 64-to-34 test vote, which took place less than two hours after the final text was circulated, put the legislation on a path to pass the chamber by the end of the week. Key players on the political right took sides immediately after the text was released, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) backing the bill and the National Rifle Association opposing it.

“This is a breakthrough and, more importantly, it’s a bipartisan breakthrough,” Murphy said Tuesday. “This bill will be too little for many; it’ll be too much for others. But it isn’t a box-checking exercise. This bill is not window dressing. This bill is going to save lives. This bill is going to save thousands of lives. It is going to be something that every single member of this Senate who votes for it can be proud of.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/21/senate-gun-deal/