US President Biden as the Senate passes a historic gun control law
Key Takeaways:
- Late on Thursday, the Senate passed a plan that included major mental health and school safety funding along with a few new, modest gun control measures.
- The rule is important because it follows two tragic incidents in recent months: a shooting at a New York grocer and a shooting at a Texas school that left 31 people dead.
United States President Joe Biden said on Friday that Congress had approved legislation "to combat the plague of gun violence in our communities" in response to the cries of families whose loved ones had perished in numerous terrible incidents during the previous years.
The Senate approved a bipartisan bill with limited new gun control measures and significant spending for mental health and school safety late Thursday. In his request for the House to "bring it to my desk," Biden said that the proposed law would assist in safeguarding students in classrooms and make communities safer.
According to NPR, the House of Representatives, the Lower House of the US legislative system, is anticipated to start debating the bill soon. Biden can sign it into law after the House approves it.
"After 28 years of delay, members of Congress from both parties came together tonight to enact legislation that will confront the scourge of gun violence in our communities. Action has been sought by the families of the victims of the sad killings in Uvalde and Buffalo, among others. In addition, "In a statement issued by the White House, Biden remarked.
"This legislation from both parties will defend Americans. As a result, children in schools as well as communities will be safer. This law should be swiftly passed by the House of Representatives and delivered to my office."
Biden has consistently campaigned for more significant gun control legislation, including the reinstatement of the prohibition on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, which were used in both the Texas and New York shootings.
He has also criticized the United States Supreme Court for having struck down a New York state law restricting people from carrying guns in public without a permit. He claimed that the decision "should greatly worry us all" since it goes against both common sense and the Constitution.
This reform has been praised as "historic" by both Democrats and Republicans.
Senate majority leader and Democrat Chuck Schumer stated, "The gun safety law we are enacting tonight can be defined with three adjectives: bipartisan, common sense, and lifesaving."
It would increase safety without reducing freedom in America, according to his Republican colleague Mitch McConnell.
The law is crucial because it follows two terrible instances in recent months: a New York grocery shooting and a Texas school shooting, which resulted in 31 fatalities.