One step forward, one step back: The US Senate votes to tighten gun laws. At the same time, the Supreme Court is making it easier to carry a gun concealed.
For the first time in decades, the US Senate passed a bipartisan law to improve protection against gun violence.
It was passed by a majority of 65 to 33 on Thursday evening (local time), almost a month after a massacre at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 children. Experts rate the tightening of gun laws as the most significant at the federal level since the mid-1990s – and that, although it was a minimum non-partisan compromise, critics criticized as completely inadequate. On the same day, however, the US Supreme Court further expanded the right to carry firearms.
The text of the law will now be forwarded to the House of Representatives, where rapid approval was also expected. The Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, announced that the law would be launched on Friday so that a vote can take place as quickly as possible. President Joe Biden must then sign it into law.
Biden: “Law will help protect Americans”
The Democrat said “after a 28-year stalemate” on gun laws, officials from both parties have acted to confront “the plague of gun violence.” “The bipartisan law will help protect Americans. Children in schools and communities will be safer because of this,” Biden said. Biden said he would sign the law immediately after it was approved by the House of Representatives. He had previously described the law as insufficient but a step in the right direction. The law does not include the ban on assault rifles demanded by Biden and other Democrats.
Among other things, the law provides for more intensive screening of potential gun buyers who are under 21 years old. It is also about expanding state laws that make it possible to confiscate weapons from potentially dangerous people. Illegal arms trafficking should be punishable at the federal level. In addition, billions of US dollars are to be invested in mental health care and anti-violence programs. Funds are also earmarked for school security.
Many Republicans argue that the rise in gun attacks is due to a rise in mental illness, not the ready availability of guns.
On May 24, an 18-year-old shot dead 19 children and two teachers with an assault rifle in the elementary school in the small Texas town of Uvalde. The incident shook the country and prompted Senate negotiations to reform gun laws.
Supreme Court extends right to bear arms
Amid the debate over gun violence, the country’s Supreme Court expanded the right to carry guns in public on Thursday. The Supreme Court overturned a more than 100-year-old New York state statute that requires you to have valid reason to obtain a license to carry a handgun concealed outside the home. Two men complained about it. Similar laws exist in states like California, New Jersey or Massachusetts. In other parts of the USA, on the other hand, there are hardly any restrictions.
“We are not aware of any other constitutional right that individuals may only exercise if they can demonstrate a special need to the authorities,” the verdict said. The court’s decision was six to three – the three judges, who are considered liberal, did not join the conservative majority.
Source: Stern
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