Bipartisan Gun Violence Bill: What Passage Would Mean In Illinois

ILLINOIS— As U.S. lawmakers move closer to agreeing on the first bipartisan gun control bill in recent memory, senators representing Illinois voted in favor of the bipartisan gun violence bill that cleared an initial procedural hurdle Tuesday — passing the Senate 64-34 — and could win final approval before the two-week 4th of July recess starts at the end of the week.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act would strengthen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, expand the definition of a gun seller and impose new penalties on gun traffickers. It could also give Illinois and its communities a share of $15 billion to improve school safety and fund mental health initiatives.

The legislation would also make $750 million available to the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have “red flag” laws to make it easier for them to temporarily take away firearms from people who have been adjudged to be dangerous, and to other states with violence prevention programs. To receive the money, a state with a red flag law would have to have a legal process in place for the gun owner to fight the removal of the firearm.

Illinois is one of 19 states in the country with a red flag law, which restricts those who are deemed to be dangerous from owning a gun. The law in Illinois went into effect in 2019 and suspends a person’s right to buy or own a firearm, and it allows for the removal of any guns in that person’s possession to protect that person and those around them.

In addition, the person whose rights are suspended will then have to wait at least two weeks to petition to have their license to own firearms restored.

If the Senate approves the measure on a final vote, the Democratic-controlled House is expected to do the same in short order, making it the most significant curbs on firearms since an assault weapons ban in the 1990s that was allowed to expire.

“Let’s be clear — this bill is a compromise and in a 50-50 Senate, we expect nothing less,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said on the Senate floor this week. “It doesn’t accomplish everything I want. It certainly doesn’t accomplish everything that the Republican colleagues who voted for it wanted, either. But the reforms and investments made in this bill represent an important step for making our nation safer.

“It won’t end gun violence, but it will help reduce the number of shootings and killings.”

Fourteen Republicans joined 48 Democrats and two allied independents in voting for the landmark legislation, crafted in response to a supermarket shooting that killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and the killing of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

Agreement on the 80-page bill came nine days after a committee of 20 senators — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — reached an agreement on the framework.

One sticking point was the “boyfriend loophole.” Current federal law prohibits people convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing a firearm only if they are living with, married to or have a child with their partner. The proposed legislation would expand restrictions to include domestic violence offenders who have been in a “continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” with their victims.

The legislation falls short of measures President Joe Biden and other Democrats sought, such as the reinstatement of an assault weapons ban and restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines, but it represents a breakthrough that could turn the midterm elections into an incendiary culture war.

The Uvalde shooting, in particular, had the power that previous mass shootings did not have to sway some Republicans to support gun violence legislation.

“I saw a level of fear on the faces of the parents and the children that I spoke to that I’ve never seen before,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic bargainer, told The Associated Press.

He told the AP his colleagues have encountered anxiety among voters “not just for the safety of their children, but also a fear about the ability of government to rise to this moment and do something and do something meaningful.”

The bill, Murphy said, would “save thousands of lives.” Before entering the Senate, his House district included Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children and six staff members perished in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The Republicans’ top bargainer, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, said of the agreement: “Some think it goes too far, others think it doesn’t go far enough. And I get it. It’s the nature of compromise.

“I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe,” he added. “I’m confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction.”

Kentucky Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the legislation is “a commonsense package of popular steps that will help make these horrifying incidents less likely while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”

The National Rifle Association, which has spent decades derailing gun control legislation, denounced the bill.

“It falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners,” the gun lobby group said.

Besides McConnell and Cornyn, Republicans voting for the measure included Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Lindsey O. Graham of South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Todd C. Young of Indiana.

Republican Sen. Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania did not vote Tuesday but issued a statement supporting the legislation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.