June 23, 2022 10:48pm
Updated: June 24, 2022 11:32am
The Senate on Thursday passed the first significant firearms legislation in decades in the wake of two mass shootings earlier this year.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed by a 65-33 vote.
All 50 Democrats supported the legislation, as well as Republican Sens. Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelly Moore Capito, Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, John Cornyn, Joni Ernst, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rob Portman, Mitt Romney, Thom Tillis, Pat Toomey, and Todd Young.
Sens. Blunt, Burr, Toomey and Portman, are retiring at the end of this year, while only Indiana Sen. Young and Alaska Sen. Murkowski face reelection this November.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, whose state was the location of the Uvalde elementary school shooting, slammed the bill, saying it "won’t stop violent crime and will undermine your rights."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said after the bill passed: "Enhanced funding for school security & mental health treatment is a good thing — but it’s being combined with giving the left a foothold to limit the 2nd Amendment. I voted against the gun control bill because Americans' constitutional right to keep & bear arms is not negotiable."
Other Senators celebrated the bill's passage.
"The Supreme Court decision this morning was a major blow. But we just passed the most significant gun safety bill in nearly 30 years — including provisions from my bill to make gun trafficking a federal crime," Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) tweeted, referencing the Supreme Court decision Thursday that struck down New York concealed carry restrictions.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who led GOP negotiations on the legislation, said, "Our bill will save lives while placing no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners."
House Republican leadership has already promised to stand firmly against the bill.
Former President Donald Trump has also warned that the bill is the "first step" to taking away Americans' firearms.
The bill will now go to the Democrat-controlled House where it is likely to pass.
