Gun reform approved in Congress, ready for president’s signature

America’s first major gun bill in 30 years could be on President Joe Biden’s desk by this weekend. The House of Representatives approved the Safer Communities Act, sending the gun reform bill to the White House.

The 234-to-193 vote fell mostly along party lines: All Democrats voted in favor, along with 14 Republicans. The bill is described as an important step in the right direction for gun reform and bipartisanship.

The Safer Communities Act: 

• strengthens background checks for 18-20 year olds;
• provides federal support for state red flag laws;
• closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” so those convicted of domestic violence against a dating partner are barred from owning a gun for five years; and
• provides $3 billion for school and community mental health services.

“It’s not everything that we wanted, and we must keep moving towards background checks, universal background checks, which will save the most lives. But this will save lives,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

The legislation passed the Senate 65-34, with 15 Republicans approving in that chamber. More Senate Republicans voted in favor of the bill than House Republicans. Congressman Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., predicted that exact scenario in an interview with Straight Arrow News, because he said members of the House GOP were concerned with red flag law provisions.

“People just really believe that if you’re going to erode someone’s constitutional rights, you can’t do it without full due process. Because the Constitution also says you can’t deprive somebody of rights without due process,” Rep. Johnson said.

The bill was negotiated on a bipartisan basis between Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the wake of the deadly shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo. There was opposition from the very beginning from pro-Second Amendment lawmakers who said the bill could infringe upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

In the end, Senate Republican leadership felt they struck the right balance, which earned the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster, including a thumbs-up from the Senate’s Republican leader Mitch McConnell.