WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators on Sunday announced it had reached a framework for enacting modest gun restrictions, such as closing loopholes and increasing background checks for gun purchases by people between 18 and 21, in response to a recent spate of mass shootings that included a massacre at a Texas elementary school.
If enacted and signed by President Joe Biden, the measure would become the most significant piece of firearms legislation produced by Congress in nearly three decades. The group of 20 senators, led by Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced Sunday that they struck a deal “to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across the country.”
Although the proposal falls far short of the gun safety reforms Biden has lobbied Congress to pass and is far less sweeping than the comprehensive package that advanced in the House last week, it garnered the immediate support of anti-gun groups and the White House.
