Top Senate Negotiators Reach Deal on Gun Control Bill as NRA Asserts Measure Will Be Abused

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Top negotiators in the US Senate said they reached a deal on a bipartisan gun control bill that will tighten background checks and provide funding to address mental health issues, among other provisions.

After the deal was struck, the Senate was set to remove a procedural hurdle to advance the measure, with at least 63 senators voting in favor of beginning debate.

"[The] bipartisan legislation... will help keep our children and our communities safer," Senator John Cornyn, the lead Republican negotiator on the gun control bill, said during remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon.

The senator also said they are not introducing a national red flag law, but are "providing the availability of law enforcement-related grants to crisis intervention programs whether you've adopted a red flag program or not."

Cornyn said the Bipartisan Safe Communities Act includes ideas from both Republicans and Democrats and has real potential to become law.

US Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, said in later remarks that the bipartisan legislation would ensure domestic abusers cannot have guns, would provide enhanced background checks for young buyers and ban straw purchases i.e. purchases via a proxy buyer who can pass a background check to buy the weapon.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he supports the legislation, adding that this bill will help make mass shooting incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding US citizens.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will put this bill on Senate floor for a vote with an initial procedural vote possible as soon as Tuesday night, which will be followed by an effort to pass the legislation as quickly as possible.

Schumer added that this bill is not everything Democrats wanted but it will save lives.

The bill has received some opposition from several lawmakers including one of the biggest US gun lobbyists, the National Rifle Association (NRA). The gun lobby group said the bill does very little to address gun violence while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on Americans' rights to own firearms.

"This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, & use fed dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state & local politicians," the NRA said.

Congresswoman Mary Miller said she opposed the proposed bill because she opposes all efforts to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of her constituents.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio appeared to oppose voting to begin debate on the bill as soon as Tuesday night, underscoring that the text of the legislation was only made available about an hour ago.

Discussions in Congress on gun-related violence and firearms laws increased significantly following a series of high-profile mass shootings in the United States.

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.