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Congress sends gun violence bill to Biden

WASHINGTON - The House sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades on Friday, a measured compromise that at illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists.

The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters’ revulsion over last month’s mass shootings in New York and Texas. The night before, the Senate approved it by a bipartisan 65-33 margin, with 15 Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting a package that senators from both parties had crafted.

The bill would incrementally toughen requirements for young people to buy guns, deny firearms from more domestic abusers and help local authorities temporarily take weapons from people found to be dangerous. Most of its $13 billion cost would go to bolster mental health programs and for schools, which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida and many other massacres.

And while it omits the far tougher restrictions Democrats have long championed, it stands as the most impactful gun violence measure that Congress has approved since it enacted a now-expired assault weapons ban nearly 30 years ago.

For the conservatives who dominate Republicans in the House, it all came down to the Constitution’s Second Amendment right for people to have firearms, a protection that is key for many voters who own guns.

Fifteen Senate Republicans backed the compromise, but that still meant that fewer than one-third of GOP senators supported the measure. And with Republicans in the House solidly against it, the fate of future congressional action on guns seems dubious.

The bill lacked favorite Democratic proposals like bans on the assault-type weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines used in the slayings in Buffalo and Uvalde. But it still let both parties declare victory by demonstrating to voters that they know how to compromise and make government work.

The bill would make the local juvenile records of people age 18 to 20 available during required federal background checks when they attempt to buy guns. Those examinations, currently limited to three days, would last up to a maximum of 10 days to give federal and local officials time to search records.

People convicted of domestic abuse who are current or former romantic partners of the victim would be prohibited from acquiring firearms, closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole.”

That ban currently only applies to people married to, living with or who have had children with the victim.

There would be money to help states enforce red flag laws and for other states without them that for violence prevention programs. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws.

The measure expands the use of background checks by rewriting the definition of the federally licensed gun dealers required to conduct them. Penalties for gun trafficking are strengthened, billions of dollars are provided for behavioral health clinics and school mental health programs and money for school safety initiatives, though not for personnel to use a “dangerous weapon.”

From left, Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., listen as they attend an event on the steps of the U.S. Capitol about gun violence Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and other lawmakers, talk about the gun violence bill at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. At left is Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and at right is Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and other lawmakers, speaks about the gun violence bill at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE -Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has led the Democrats in bipartisan Senate talks to rein in gun violence, pauses for questions from reporters, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. The Senate on Thursday, June 23, 2022 easily approved a bipartisan gun violence bill that seemed unthinkable just a month ago, clearing the way for final congressional approval of what will be lawmakers' most far-reaching response in decades to the nation's run of brutal mass shootings. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., crosses through a construction tunnel at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. After Senate bargainers reached agreement on a bipartisan gun violence bill, Schumer predicted Senate approval later this week, and passage by the Democratic-led House could follow quickly. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks with reporters following a closed-door policy lunch, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has led the Democrats in bipartisan Senate talks to rein in gun violence, talks to reporters, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Senate bargainers reached agreement on a bipartisan gun violence bill yesterday, with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer predicting Senate approval later this week. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)