US lawmakers on Friday broke a decades-long stalemate on firearms control, passing the first major safety regulations in almost 30 years, less than 24 hours after the US Supreme Court bolstered the right to bear arms.
Gun regulation is a touchstone issue for conservatives and liberals in the US that has consumed national politics amid multiple mass shootings in recent years.
The US House of Representatives, led by the Democrats, voted to rubber-stamp a bipartisan US Senate gun bill that, while modest, amounts to the first significant piece of legislation to regulate firearms since 1994.
“Let us not judge this legislation for what is not in it, but respect it for what it does, and what it does is save lives. And we are very, very proud of that,” House Speaker Democrat Nancy Pelosi said.
Fourteen Republicans defied US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to cross the aisle and approve the 80-page package, which advanced from the evenly divided upper chamber with cross-party backing late on Thursday.
That vote came hours after the Supreme Court’s conservative majority had struck down a century-old New York law requiring permits for concealed-carry handguns.
The gun legislation includes enhanced background checks for younger buyers and federal cash for states introducing “red flag” laws that allow courts to temporarily remove weapons from those considered a threat.
Billions of dollars have been allocated to crack down on “straw purchasers” who buy firearms for people who are not allowed them and to curb gun trafficking.
The Supreme court had voted along party lines.
The ruling was hailed by campaigners for boosted gun rights, but took the shine off what was expected to be a day of jubilation for weapons control activists.
Liberals had been celebrating the congressional action despite disappointment at the limited scope of the legislation, which does not include universal background checks and omits any ban on semi-automatic weapons or high-capacity magazines.
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