Senate passes gun control bill on Gun Nut Appreciation Day at the Supreme Court
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Honestly, I’m surprised that even this was able to pass:
The Senate passed a bipartisan measure aimed at gun safety, breaking a yearslong stalemate over federal legislation to address rampant violence. Fifteen Republican senators broke with their party to vote in favor of the bill, which passed 65 to 33. Only two of the Republicans who supported the bill are facing re-election this year, indicating how difficult it could be to advance similar compromises in the future.
The good news is that Biden has had marginally more success in getting bipartisan legislation passed than I would have thought. The bad news is that this is presumably happening in part because McConnell has realized that some modest breaks in total obstructionism will not move the approval needle in the president’s favor:
In subsequent remarks with reporters, he explained the political logic of his stance, saying he hoped the GOP support for the deal “will be viewed favorably by voters in the suburbs that we need to regain in order to hopefully be a majority next year.”
“I thought it was time to act, and if [Democrats] were willing to join with us and pass legislation that actually targeted the problem, which is school safety and mental health, why would we not want to do that?” he added.
In addition to funding for mental health services and school security initiatives, the legislation expands criminal background checks for some gun buyers, bars a larger group of domestic-violence offenders from being able to purchase firearms, and funds programs that would allow authorities to seize guns from troubled individuals.
It’s not a great bill but it was worth passing — limiting the boyfriend loophole alone makes it a worthwhile initiative — and any great bull would be DOA under our current judicial regime anyway.