A group of bipartisan senators – 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats – have agreed to a gun control framework that President Biden says will be the “most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.”
The number of GOP senators is significant because it represents the number needed to overcome any potential filibuster and pass the legislation, sending it to Biden’s desk.
Lawmakers are still crafting the legislative text but announced an agreement Sunday.
NEWS: Bipartisan group of 20 Senators announces framework of a bill to combat gun violence in America.
Full list of Senators and the list of provision is HERE: pic.twitter.com/H0dlB55szX
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) June 12, 2022
“Today, we are announcing a commonsense, bipartisan proposal to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country,” the group said in a press statement.
“Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities.”
All indications point to the bill having enhanced background checks for anyone under 21, establishing a federal grant program to encourage the creation of ‘red flag’ laws, and increased funding for school safety and mental healthcare.
They don’t need to “repeal the 2nd”
It will just be salami sliced until self defense is functionally illegal and Republicans will help them every step of the way https://t.co/Pfs2nW7AHd
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) June 12, 2022
Senate Republicans Set to Join Democrats on Gun Control Legislation
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the #2 Republican in the Senate, is among the group signing on to the new framework. He was recently tapped by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to “negotiate” with Democrats on gun control.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined Cornyn and Democrats Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) as the core group of Senate lawmakers behind the gun control framework.
The other eight Republicans include Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), and Pat Toomey (R-PA).
President Biden insisted the deal didn’t go far enough but still boasted of its significance.
“I want to thank Senator Chris Murphy and the members of his bipartisan group—especially Senators Cornyn, Sinema, and Tillis—for their tireless work to produce this proposal,” Biden wrote in a statement released shortly after the announcement.
“Obviously, 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,” Biden added.
President Biden says “obviously” the new bipartisan gun proposal “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.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 12, 2022
RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene Demolishes Lindsey Graham For Helping Democrats On Gun Control
Red Flag Laws Raise Red Flags
Incentivizing so-called ‘red flag’ laws does not institute them at the federal level, as Democrats had been seeking, but it creates a sticking point between staunch Second Amendment supporters and weak-kneed Republicans looking for a false sense of security by bending during an emotional time.
‘Red flag’ laws allow authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others, without having been convicted of a crime, violating the right to due process.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution protects individuals from being deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Oh, you’re not supporting red flag laws, you’re just spending millions and millions of dollars of our money to support and enact red flag laws?
Embarrassing attempt at spin here. https://t.co/xwLGyegKs9
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 12, 2022
For those counting at home – that’s two constitutional violations in one measure. It also, in today’s political climate, creates significant concerns about abuse.
If they pass red flag laws any disagreement with the ruling ideology will be a red flag
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) June 12, 2022
MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz, prior to the Senate gun control framework being announced, delivered a fiery rebuke of Republican lawmakers who back ‘red flag’ gun laws.
“Let the message from this committee hearing to Republican senators be astonishingly clear,” he warned at a House Judiciary Committee debate last week. “If you back red flag laws as some reflexive response to some emotion that you have, you betray your voters.”
“You are a traitor to the Constitution, the Second Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, you do nothing to make mass shootings less likely.”
.@RepMattGaetz‘s Powerful Message To Senate Republicans
“If you back red-flag laws…you betray your voters, you are a traitor to the constitution, the 2A, the 5A, you do nothing to make mass shootings less likely, and you put a target on the back of your constituents.” pic.twitter.com/D8y2MSt6va
— The Columbia Bugle ?? (@ColumbiaBugle) June 2, 2022
Fellow MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene slammed Senator Graham, who is part of this bipartisan effort, for working with Democrats on gun control.
“Why would we have a Republican senator from South Carolina ready to go to vote on radical gun control bills?” Greene (R-GA) asked. It’s a great question.
#Thread @RepMTG: If @LindseyGrahamSC Votes For Red Flag Gun Laws He Will Be Violating A Promise He Made To Me In 2019
“They totally violate our freedoms & they violate the due process rights that we have as Americans.” pic.twitter.com/BXXaZxOLkM
— The Columbia Bugle ?? (@ColumbiaBugle) June 7, 2022
She took to social media Sunday evening to slam Senate Republicans for potentially giving President Biden another legislative victory on gun control.
“The Senate Republicans are everything wrong in the GOP,” she tweeted. “Too many of them have helped Joe Biden pass his America Last agenda even more than the Progressive Democrats in the House.”
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Greene suggests the GOP “needs a drastic identity change” if America is going to survive the Biden administration.
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