On the same day that the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying guns outside the home, the Senate approved bipartisan legislation yesterday aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people, after a small group of Republicans joined Dems to break through their party’s longstanding blockade of gun safety measures and shatter nearly three decades of congressional paralysis on toughening the nation’s gun laws.
To state the obvious, the Senate‘s work reflects a stark divergence!!! between the conservative-leaning court and the Democratic-controlled Congress on one of the most politically intractable issues in the country.
The Senate passed the measure 65 to 33, with 15 Republicans, including, wait for it, Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the minority leader, breaking ranks to side with Dems in support of the measure; two Republican senators were absent.
The legislation would enhance background checks for prospective gun buyers ages 18 to 21, requiring for the first time that juvenile records, including mental health records beginning at age 16, be vetted for potentially disqualifying material.
The bill would provide incentives for states to pass “red flag” laws that allow guns to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed by a judge to be too dangerous to possess them.
And…
It would tighten a federal ban on domestic abusers buying firearms, and strengthen laws against straw purchasing and trafficking of guns.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced last night that the House would move to take up the measure this morning.
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