Biden Signs Bipartisan Gun-Control Bill: ‘Going to Save a Lot of Lives’
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President Biden signed a bipartisan gun-control bill into law on Saturday, saying, “God willing, it’s going to save a lot of lives.”
“Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved,” Biden said at the signing for the largest gun-control bill in nearly 30 years. “From Columbine to Sandy Hook to Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, El Paso, Atlanta, Buffalo, Uvalde and for the shootings that happen every day in the streets. How many times have you heard that, ‘just do something, for God’s sake just do something’?”
“Today, we did,” he said.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes enhanced background checks for under-21 gun buyers as well as funding to help states pass and implement “red flag” laws to allow law enforcement to confiscate weapons from people deemed dangerous. It also allocates billions in new funding for mental health and school safety, including money for the national build out of community mental-health clinics.
The bill closes the “boyfriend loophole” to prevent violent spouses or domestic abusers from obtaining a firearm if they are convicted of abuse against their partner.
Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) and Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas) led a bipartisan group of senators in negotiations last month to reach a deal on gun reforms following a spate of mass shootings that shook the nation, including a massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y. The suspects in both shootings were 18 years old.
Biden signed the bill less than 24 hours after it passed the House 234 -193, with 14 Republicans voting in favor. The Senate passed the bill on Thursday 65–33 with the support of 15 Republicans, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.)
“This bill doesn’t do everything I want. It does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives,” Biden said. “I know there’s much more work to do. And I’m never going to give up.
“But this is a monumental day,” he said.
