Biden Signs First Gun Control Legislation in Decades

After the mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX, advocates and victims of gun violence have been pleading for Congress to pass gun control legislation. After passing the House and Senate with some Republican support, that legislation is set to become law.

President Joe Biden signed into law the first significant national gun-control legislation in the past 30 years on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 234-193.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act enhances background checks on young gun buyers aged 18-21, encourages states to create “red flag” laws and systems, and closed the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by extending the list of convicted domestic abusers unable to purchase firearms to include dating partners and not just couples who are married, live together or have children.

The bill was passed in response to the Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX shootings that took place last month. Fourteen Senate Republicans voted against party lines to help it pass the filibuster, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. “[The bill] will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.” McConnell said in a statement after the text of the bill was revealed.

The legislation was drafted by a bipartisan group of 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats that negotiated the bill’s contents in the aftermath of the shootings.

After signing the bill, Biden touted the bill’s accomplishments while stressing he wanted more done. “This bill doesn't do everything I want, but includes actions I've longed called for that saves lives,” Biden stated.

Biden also touted crackdowns on straw purchases, that is when someone buys a gun for someone else, and gun trafficking. The bill also increases funding for youth mental health programs.

However, there are some concerns that the conservative Supreme Court may strike down the new bill. The court recently overruled New York’s concealed carry law, worrying gun control advocates that the court may be hostile to gun legislation.

The bill neglects to address several provisions gun control advocates asked for, including some that Biden called for in his address to the nation in the wake of the shootings. Assault rifles and high-capacity magazines were not affected by the bill. Universal background checks were also not a part of the legislation.

Those proposals were highly unlikely to gain enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, so they were shelved.

Even this watered-down bill was decried by gun rights advocates. “Red flag laws permit the preemptive seizure of firearms from Americans without due process,” the House Freedom Caucus, a group of Conservative Republicans serving in the House, argued in a statement, “by allowing any person to report a gunowner to law enforcement and petition for the confiscation of that individual’s firearms, even before the gunowner has an opportunity to defend themselves.”

Biden, meanwhile, said that while there is “much more work to do,” the bill he signed will “save lives,” and its passage marked a “monumental day.”