Contradictory decisions within a few hours: The Supreme Court has just extended the right to carry guns, the Senate is now passing a slight tightening of gun laws – for the first time in decades.
A month after the massacre at a Texas elementary school, the US Senate passed legislation to improve gun violence protection. The reform was passed on Thursday evening with a bipartisan majority of 65 to 33 votes. According to experts, it was the most significant tightening of gun laws at the federal level in decades – even though it was a non-partisan minimum compromise that critics described as completely inadequate.
On May 24, an 18-year-old shot dead 19 children and two teachers with an assault rifle in the elementary school in the small Texas town of Uvalde. The incident shook the country and prompted Senate negotiations to reform gun laws.
The text of the law will now be forwarded to the House of Representatives, where rapid approval was also expected. President Joe Biden must then sign the law into law. The Democrat said “after 28 years of deadlock” on gun laws, officials from both parties have acted to confront “the plague of gun violence.” “The bipartisan law will help protect Americans. Children in schools and communities will be safer because of it,” Biden said. Biden said he would sign the law immediately after it was approved by the House of Representatives.
He had previously described the law as insufficient but a step in the right direction. Among other things, the law provides for more intensive screening of potential gun buyers who are under 21 years old. It is also about expanding state laws that make it possible to confiscate weapons from potentially dangerous people. Illegal arms trafficking should be punishable at the federal level. In addition, billions of US dollars are to be invested in mental health care and anti-violence programs. Funds are also earmarked for school security.
Many Republicans argue that the rise in gun attacks is due to a rise in mental illness, not the ready availability of guns. The law does not include the ban on assault rifles demanded by Biden and other Democrats.
Supreme Court declares carrying a gun in public a fundamental right
Amid the debate over gun violence, the country’s Supreme Court expanded the right to carry guns in public on Thursday. The Supreme Court overturned a more than 100-year-old New York state statute that requires you to have valid reason to obtain a license to carry a handgun concealed outside the home. Two men complained about it. Similar laws exist in states like California, New Jersey or Massachusetts.
In other parts of the USA, on the other hand, there are hardly any restrictions. “We are not aware of any other constitutional right that individuals may only exercise if they can demonstrate a special need to the authorities,” the verdict said. The court’s decision was six to three – the three judges, who are considered liberal, did not join the conservative majority.