A ray of hope: The Hindu editorial on gun ownership reform in America

Crossing a partisan stalemate for the first time in several generations, the US Congress has passed, and President Joe Biden signs into law, a gun regulation bill To impose a number of significant restrictions on the spread of firearms across the country. bipartisan gun reform law, titled Bipartisan Safe Communities (BSC) Act, was first passed in the Senate, with a final vote of 65 to 33, with 15 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the measure, and then in the House of Representatives, by a margin of 234–193 votes, 14 Republicans. Voting corridor with crossing. While the bill goes a long way in reining in the relatively unimpeded sale of firearms to the arms buyer profile, it falls short of the key rules Democrats are pushing for. This law also went into effect soon after the US Supreme Court struck down a New York law limiting concealed carry guns. Nevertheless, the bipartisan character of the bill reflects the best hope for a gradual and marginal change in public discourse on gun ownership and guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. The fact that such a bill passed both houses of Congress and reached Mr. Biden’s table also reflects the deep shock that the nation has suffered in recent acts of gun violence at a Texas school and a New York store. had experienced.

is limited in Bipartisan gun reform law – It does nothing to address the question of limiting the availability of this weapon, nor does it satisfy Democrats’ long-standing demand for universal background checks for firearms purchasers . The law mandates expanded background checks in its original scope, including state and local juvenile and mental health records of gun buyers aged 18 to 20; closing the “lover loophole” by denying gun ownership to convicted domestic violence offenders under certain conditions; ‘Red Flag Laws’ that would provide federal funding to states with laws enabling the removal of guns from persons deemed dangerous; and sets aside nearly $13 billion for education and advocacy toward mental health improvement in schools, crisis intervention, violence prevention programs, mental health worker training, and school safety. Although the law does not indicate a revival of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which ended a decade later, this category of weapon has since been used most frequently in deadly mass shootings. While the BSC Act is a welcome step in the right direction, America has a long road ahead and complicated questions to solve about its obsession with unrestricted gun ownership before mass shootings in public places stop.