Among others, the Bill calls for stricter background checks of buyers younger than 21.
Washington: Amid an epidemic of instances of gun violence in the US, the country’s Senate late on Thursday passed a gun control Bill which is probably the most significant firearm legislation in the last 30 years.
Among others, the Bill calls for stricter background checks of buyers younger than 21. It also provisions for $15bn (£12.2bn) in federal funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades.
The Bill also closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners.
The Bill will now have to get passed in the House of Representatives before President Joe Biden can sign it and turn it into a law.
This is probably the rarest case where the Republicans joined the Democrats to vote for the Bill. As many as 15 Republicans joined Democrats in the Upper chamber of Congress to approve the measure by 65 votes to 33.
The Bill also encourages the states to implement “red flag” laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat.
However, the reforms the Bill envisages are nowhere close to what the activists had asked for. President Biden had also said, the proposals were “steps in the right direction” but are still not enough.
