The legislation lead by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is an attempt to take away firearms away from “dangerous people” and provide billions of dollars in new mental health funding. The bill cleared a procedural vote Tuesday night 64-34. You can read the text of the bill here: BIPARTISAN SAFER COMMUNITIES ACT
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THE DUALITY
There are two perspective sides to this development, 1) you generally have the same group of Republicans leaders lining up to join forces with the Democrats, much in the same way they did during the voting that approved $40 Billions dollars to sent to Ukraine and 2) a “rare” bipartisan effort to remove firearms from “dangerous people”. Either way you perceive the unfolding situation, the bill may have the potential to impact the Second Amendment Rights of Americans.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
It also represents a rare moment of bipartisan agreement on a hyper polarized issue.
The Hill
The legislation largely does not restrict any rights of existing gun owners.
Texas Tribune
A quick review of the text of the bipartisan bill, one of the proposed changes to 18 U.S.C. § 922 – U.S. Code – Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and Criminal Procedure § 922. Unlawful acts which may suggest that juvenile records will no longer be sealed when it comes to issue of gun background checks.
According to the text of the bill (additions in quotations):
Section 922 of Title 18 (A)(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person—“including as a juvenile”
Section 922 of Title 18 (A)(d)(4)has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution; “at 16 years of age or older”
Included in the text a “section 12005” that could affect anyone with reported domestic violence issues. The text lays out attempts to describe what is a “dating relationship” based on i) the length of relationship ii) the nature of the relationship iii) the frequency of interaction between the individuals involved in the relationship.
Immediately after describing what constitutes a “dating relationship” the text continued; (c) A casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a “dating relationship” under subparagraph (A) The term ‘dating relationship’ means a relationship between individuals who have or have recently had a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature.
“I support the bill text that Senator Cornyn and our colleagues have produced. For years, the far left falsely claimed that Congress could only address the terrible issue of mass murders by trampling on law-abiding Americans’ constitutional rights. This bill proves that false.”
According to Fox News Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. commented.
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