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| Photo Credit: AP. |
US President Joe Biden Saturday signed a sweeping gun reform bill following the passage of a landmark bipartisan gun control measure by the Senate and House. The bipartisan measure was agreed upon following recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas.
“Time is of
the essence. Lives will be saved,” he said in the Roosevelt Room of the White
House, according to The Associated Press. The President who cited the families
of mass shooting victims said “Their message to us was, ‘Do something.’ How
many times did we hear that? ‘Just do something. For God’s sake, just do
something.’ Today we did.”
On Thursday the
Senate passed the measure with the support of a number of Republicans. In a
statement at the White House following the passage of the measure by the
Senate, Mr Biden said:
“Tonight,
after 28 years of inaction, bipartisan members of Congress came together to
heed the call of families across the country and passed legislation to address
the scourge of gun violence in our communities”.
The President
noted that families of the mass shooting at an Elementary School in Uvalde as
well as those of a racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo “and too many
tragic shootings before – have demanded action.
And tonight, we acted.”
Mr Biden who
urged the House Representatives to “promptly’ vote on the legislation added
that “this bipartisan legislation will help protect Americans. Kids in schools
and communities will be safer because of it”
The House
approved the bipartisan legislation Friday which was signed by Biden before
leaving Washington for two summits in Europe.
“Today we
say, ‘More than enough,’” Biden said, according to The Associated Press. “It’s
time, when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing
something consequential.”
The bill entail
extra scrutiny for gun buyers under the age of 21, grants to states to
implement so-called red flag laws and new spending on mental health treatment
and school security,
Gun buyers
21 and younger would be subjected to scrutiny of their criminal and mental
health records as juveniles.
The
provisions on red flag laws allow law enforcement to seek temporary removal of
firearms from an individual who is a threat to himself or others. The bill
would also close “boyfriend loophole” by broadening firearms restrictions on
those who have abused their romantic partners.
Most of its
$13 billion cost will help bolster mental health programs and aid schools,
which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, and
elsewhere in mass shootings, according to The Associated Press.
Expressing
regret that the bipartisan bill does not go far enough, Mr Biden said “it does
include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives.”
“I know
there’s much more work to do, and I’m never going to give up, but this is a
monumental day,” said the president, who was joined by his wife, Jill, a
teacher, for the signing.
The
President said he will host an event on July 11 for lawmakers and families
affected by gun violence and spoke of families “who lost their souls to an
epidemic of gun violence. They lost their child, their husband, their wife.
Nothing is going to fill that void in their hearts. But they led the way so
other families will not have the experience and the pain and trauma that they
had to live through,” according to The Associated Press.
The bill
does not include tougher restrictions such as ban on assault-style weapons and
background checks for all firearm transactions which the Democrats wanted.