Proposal does not ban assault weapons or raise age required to buy them to 21, but if enacted it would come after years of stalemate
Joe Biden has urged US lawmakers to get a deal on gun reforms to his desk quickly as a group of senators announced a limited bipartisan framework Sunday responding to last month’s mass shootings.
Even so, if the accord leads to the enactment of legislation, it would signal a turn from years of gun massacres that have yielded little but stalemate in Congress.“It does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades,” he said.
Significantly, the “agreement in principle” appears to have the backing of at least 10 Republican senators, enough to reach a 60-vote threshold in the chamber and overcome the filibuster. And it would take other steps, including requiring more people who sell guns obtain federal dealers’ licenses, which means they would have to conduct background checks of purchasers.
“Though this agreement falls short in this and other respects, it can and will make our nation safer.”
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