The Senate announced a framework for a bipartisan response to recent multiple mass shootings in the U.S., marking a noteworthy but ultimately limited breakthrough that offers modest gun curbs and stepped-up efforts to improve school safety and mental health problems.
The proposal falls short of any tougher steps that have been long sought after by many people in the U.S., including many Democrats and President Joe Biden.
But the accord was embraced by Biden, and his enactment of it would signal a significant turnabout after years of mass gun massacres, and complete stalemate in Congress. In a statement, Biden said that the framework does not do everything that he believes is needed in order to address gun violence, but that it “reflects important steps in the right direction.”
Bide said the legislation “would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.”
There is bipartisan support for the legislation, which means there are no excuses for delay, and no reason why it should not move quickly through both the House and Senate, Biden said.
There has been extreme urgency from the public to finally act on gun violence after recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas.
Leaders hope to push the legislation into law quickly. But there are still final deals and legislative language to be completed, which means there will be fresh disputes in Congress, and delays may emerge.
In a consequential development that has encouraged hope this will pass, 20 Senators, including 10 Republicans, released a statement calling for the framework to pass.
The biggest obstacle to enacting the measure is most likely going to be in the split Senate. Republicans have been staunchly against gun reform, and at least 10 GOP votes are needed to attain the required 60-vote threshold for approval.
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