Dems didn't "cave." They got the most that they could from the Republicans, and it was more than many thought possible. Indeed, it is the most significant gun safety legislation in over 30 years. Fred Guttenberg, the gun safety activist whose daughter was killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, sees it as a MAJOR victory that will save lives. He was on MSNBC telling Nicole Wallace he has been crying tears of happiness all day. And he thanked President Biden, who he said promised him he would pass gun safety legislation while in office.
The agreed upon terms of this legislation includes key provisions gun safety advocates have spent decades fighting for, including:
1. Implementation of Red Flag Laws.
Under the legislation, $750 million would be allotted over the next five years to help states implement red flag laws, which allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or others. (Similar laws already exist in 19 states and the District of Columbia.) The legislation allows for the implementation of these programs through mental health, drug and veterans’ courts.
2. Closing the "Boyfriend Loophole."
While spouses, co-parents or cohabitating partners convicted of domestic violence are already banned from purchasing firearms, abusers in relationships between people who are not married and live separately are still able to purchase guns, creating the so-called “boyfriend loophole.” (According to Everytown, a gun safety advocacy group, about 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month.)
Under the new legislation, anyone convicted of domestic violence against a former or current dating partner would be banned from purchasing a weapon.
3. Expansion of background checks.
The legislation calls for an expansion of background checks into buyers under 21 years of age, providing three business days for the check into their criminal and mental health history to be completed. If that background check finds something questionable in a potential buyer’s record, the legislation would provide for an additional seven business days to look into the buyer.
4. Funding for mental health and school security.
The bill provides funding for expanding access to mental health services, including making it easier for Americans on Medicaid to use telehealth services and work with “community-based mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers and organizations.” And it would provide additional funding for the national suicide prevention hotline (since guns accounted for a majority of suicide deaths in 2020) while schools would receive funding to increase the number of staff members providing mental health services.
5. Stricter regulation of licensed dealers and gun trafficking penalties.
The legislation would also require more sellers to register as “Federally Licensed Firearm Dealers,” including anyone who sells guns to “predominantly earn a profit.” These sellers would in turn be required to run background checks on potential buyers and keep records of the sales.
The bill would also impose penalties on “straw” purchasers who buy guns for people who can’t pass a background check.
https://news.yahoo.com/whats-in-the-senates-new-gun-control-bill-184238529.html
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