The US Senate has passed gun control legislation, the most significant in nearly 30 years.
It imposes stricter controls on young buyers and encourages states to remove firearms from people deemed a threat.
In a rare bipartisan vote on gun control legislation, 15 Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate to pass the bill.
It still needs to be approved by the lower house before President Joe Biden signs it into law.
A vote in the House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, is expected soon.
Despite falling far short of his demands, the president urged a quick vote “on this bipartisan bill.” Gun control activists and the majority of Democrats want far stricter gun control measures.
“After 28 years of inaction, bipartisan members of Congress came together tonight to heed the call of families across the country and passed legislation to address the scourge of gun violence in our communities,” Mr. Biden said.
The bill was introduced in response to last month’s mass shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a primary school in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 31 people.
Among the reforms are:
Background checks are more stringent for buyers under the age of 21.
Federal funding of $15 billion (£12.2 billion) for mental health programs and school security upgrades
Funding to encourage states to enact “red flag” laws that require the removal of firearms from people deemed a threat.
Closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by prohibiting the sale of firearms to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners.
President Biden has advocated for broader reforms, such as a ban on assault weapons, which were used in the mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo, or at the very least raising the age at which they can be purchased.
The shooter in Texas is believed to have purchased two semi-automatic rifles just days after turning 18.
A significant achievement
The bill is also significant because it is the first time in decades that proposed reforms have received such broad bipartisan support.
Historically, Republican efforts to strengthen US gun laws have been thwarted.
The bill was supported by all 50 Democrats, including the party’s most conservative members, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
They were joined by deal-makers from the Republican Party, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, a close ally of former President Donald Trump and a long-time opponent of gun-control legislation.
However, two-thirds of Senate Republicans opposed the legislation, and all of those who supported it – except Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Indiana’s Todd Young – will not face voters this November or have announced their intention not to run for re-election.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is widely expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, slammed the legislation as an attempt to “disarm law-abiding citizens rather than take serious measures to protect our children.”
March For Our Lives, a gun-control advocacy group founded by survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in 2018, applauded the bill’s advancement.
“We understand that there is a LOT more work to be done to end this epidemic. But a lot of hard work got us here. We will not give up or be silenced. Ending gun violence is the battle of our generation “the organization tweeted
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has argued that the bill will not stop the violence.
What’s the big deal about gun control?
There are currently 393 million firearms in the United States.
According to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit research group, the United States has the highest rate of firearms deaths among the world’s wealthy nations, with more than 20,900 people killed in gun violence this year, including homicide and suicide.
However, it is also a country where many people value gun rights, which are guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution to “keep and bear arms.”
The last significant federal gun control legislation was passed in 1994, prohibiting the manufacture of assault rifles and large-capacity magazines for civilian use – but it expired a decade later.
The Supreme Court overturned a New York law that limited who could legally carry a gun on Thursday, effectively expanding gun rights.
Despite polls showing that the majority of Americans support gun control efforts, many Republican senators represent states with strong pro-gun communities.
And the Republican voters they need to win primary elections – the party’s selection process – are even more opposed to reform.
