The Senate is unlikely to approve an assault weapons ban before the end of the year, according to Sen. Chris Murphy.
Efforts to reach a bipartisan Senate agreement to rein in gun violence are underway. Scott Applewhite is pictured
Murphy wondered if there was enough support in the Senate for a ban on assault weapons. He said on CNN that it was probably not.
The bill, which passed the House in July and would outlaw certain semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines, could stand a better chance of passing the Senate next year if the Democratic senator from Georgia wins reelection.
Murphy said he would call on Congress to curb federal funding for law enforcement agencies that refuse to enforce gun laws, an apparent reference to localities that have declared themselves "Second Amendment sanctuaries."
In addition to the assault weapons ban, Congress is considering a number of other gun control measures that face long odds in a narrowly Democratic-controlled Senate and a House that will be controlled by Republicans.
The Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which passed the House in June, would allow federal courts to issue orders preventing at-risk individuals from purchasing firearms.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act, passed by the House in March 2021, would require background checks whenever private parties (or anyone who is not a licensed dealer) transfer firearms between individuals, and another bill passed by the House in March of last year extended the wait period between the background check and
The mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in May that left 19 students and two teachers dead renewed calls for background check legislation.
After the shooting in Uvalde, Biden signed into law the first major piece of gun legislation in 30 years. $750 million will be spent over the next five years for states to install red-flag laws as a result of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Those convicted of domestic abuse of their dating partners can't buy a gun under the new law. The bill did not include a ban on assault weapons in order to get enough GOP support in the Senate.
In order to pass legislation, nine Republicans would need to join Democrats in order to do so, and new bills would need support from a GOP- controlled House. The Senate is split in half, with the tie-breaking vote going to the Vice President. Republicans have won 49 of the 50 seats needed to retain the majority.
President Joe Biden renewed calls for a renewed ban on assault weapons, which were banned nationally from 1994 to 2004 in the wake of the Colorado Springs shooting. Police say a supervisor at a Walmart in Virginia shot and killed six co-workers with a gun he purchased hours before the shooting. Increased red-flag laws, which would allow family members, police and others to file court petitions to prevent potentially violent people from purchasing firearms, have been called for in the wake of the shootings.
It's sick that we allow semi-automatic weapons to be bought. Biden told reporters that he was just sick. I want to get rid of assault weapons.
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