A group of United States senators announced this Sunday an agreement in principle to increase control over firearms in the country, which proposes minimum measures after the mass shootings in a supermarket in Buffalo (New York) and in a school in Uvalde (Texas).
In a statement, the group of senators, both Democrats and Republicans, indicated that the agreement includes a review of the process of buying weapons for those under 21 years of age (the perpetrators of the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings were both 18 years old).
The package of measures also extends to the entire country the so-called “danger alert” (“Red Flag”) laws, already in force in states such as California, New York and Florida, and which allow the activation of a legal procedure to confiscate firearms. fire of those who represent a danger to third parties or to themselves.
The group of senators that reached the agreement is made up of 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans, so it is foreseeable that it will obtain the necessary support to be approved in the full Senate, where the Democrats enjoy a very narrow majority and need Republican support to carry out almost any initiative.
Another of the measures included in the package is designed to put an end to what has come to be baptized as “the boyfriend vacuum”, by which until now if someone is accused of domestic violence without being married, they are allowed to continue having weapons in property, something that does not happen in the case of married people.
In addition to slightly restricting access to guns to certain people and under what circumstances, the agreement also includes more funds for mental health resources and to strengthen school security, two aspects that gun advocates insist on every day. time there is a media shootout in the US
The agreement is significant in that it has bipartisan support – if approved, it would be the largest legislative reform on firearms in thirty years – but it falls far short of proposals from the White House and most representatives of the Democratic Party, much more restrictive.
Shortly after the agreement was announced, US President Joe Biden issued a statement calling the agreement a “step in the right direction”, but lamented that it “obviously” does not include all the measures he considers necessary. .
“Every day that passes, more children are killed in this country. It is important that the agreement reaches my office as soon as possible so that I can ratify it and we can use these measures to save lives,” he said.
Before reaching the oval office to be ratified by the president, the agreement must be presented as a bill and be approved in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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