A group of negotiators in the US Senate has managed to agree on a proposal to tighten gun laws. The cross-party group has been working on the wording for several weeks. On Tuesday, the group presented the proposal. They believe it will receive enough support to be passed in the Senate. The proposal comes one month after 19 students and two teachers were killed at a school in Uvalde, Texas. The mass shooting is the worst school massacre in ten years. The hope is that the vote can take place before the weekend, before the senators take a vacation. President Joe Biden can thus sign the law as early as next week. The police in Uvalde have been criticized because they spent too long before taking action against the perpetrator during the school shooting in May. Photo: Pete Luna / Uvalde Leader-News / Reuters Extended background check The proposal includes an extended background check for arms buyers under the age of 21, NOK 110 billion in funding for mental health care, and NOK 20 billion for school safety measures. Furthermore, the states will be given financial incentives to give the courts the authority to hand out so-called red flags. This means that gun owners who are considered a threat to themselves and others can have their weapons temporarily confiscated. Thousands of Americans demonstrated earlier in June in Washington for stricter gun control. Photo: SAUL LOEB / AFP Believes the law can save thousands of lives Chris Murphy, who is the Democrats’ chief negotiator, calls the proposal the most comprehensive of its kind in almost 30 years. – This law will save thousands of lives, he says. Republican chief negotiator John Cornyn believes the proposal has weighed the right considerations. – I am proud that this law related to mental health care and school safety does not impose any new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners, Cornyn says. Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer is also pleased. – It is not everything we would like, but there is still a strong need for this law, says Schumer. NRA critical The powerful weapons organization National Rifle Associaton (NRA) writes on Twitter that they disagree with the proposal for a new weapons law. This is because they fear that the law will limit the possibility of buying weapons legally. The NRA’s position may affect how Republican politicians vote on the bill. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy made an impression when, the day after the massacre in Uvalde in May, he begged his colleagues to change the gun laws. Now he has managed to negotiate the new bill. Will demolish school On Tuesday, it was announced that the school where the mass shooting took place in May will be demolished. Robb Elementary School in Uvalde has around 600 students from 2nd to 4th grade. “You can never ask a child to return or a teacher to return to that school,” said Mayor Don McLaughlin. According to the BBC, the mayor attended an emotional meeting where several residents demanded answers about what happened during the mass shooting. The police have received strong criticism and the police chief in Texas has said that the police effort was a miserable one. McLaughlin did not say when the school will be demolished. President Joe Biden has also suggested that the school should be demolished. In that case, it is not the first school to be demolished after a mass shooting. Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was destroyed after 20 students and six teachers were killed in 2012. A new school was built on the same site. US President Joe Biden is among those who have suggested that the school in Uvalde should be demolished after the mass shooting. Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
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Senators agree on proposal for a weapons compromise in the US – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
