Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – who has worked for years to prevent gun control legislation – said Tuesday that he would support new gun restrictions.
However, he said he would only support the legislation if it reflects a bipartisan framework deal 20 senators agreed to over the weekend.
“For myself, I’m comfortable with the framework,” he said. “And if the legislation ends up reflecting what the framework indicates, I’ll be supportive.”
According to a press release from Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the framework deal includes: a clarification of the definition of federally licensed firearms dealer; a crackdown on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements; protection for victims of domestic violence; an enhanced review process for people under 21 years of age who attempt to purchase firearms; and new penalties for straw purchasing – when one person buys a gun for another who is not allowed to buy firearms.
It also includes funding for crisis intervention and mental health services and school security.
Notice there is no language about, well, guns themselves.
McConnell said he hopes the framework “hopefully, can be turned into legislative language.”
This announcement is particularly significant, as McConnell has been “consistently working to delay, obstruct, or prevent most major gun-control legislation from passing,” since the start of his career in Congress decades ago, according to a report in The Washington Post.
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McConnell has also received more than $1.2 million in direct donations, independent expenditures, and other patronages from the National Rifle Association throughout his career, according to the Brady United non-profit.
Romney, one of the senators who worked on the bipartisan deal, topped the group’s list of politicians who benefitted from the NRA, with more than $13 million in direct donations, independent expenditures, and other patronages during his career.
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Multiple mass shootings this year, including the murder of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, have spurred legislative action regarding gun control. U.S. gun violence so far in 2022 – including 267 mass shootings as of Wednesday, according to the Gun Violence Archive – has been preceded by other tragic mass shootings such as the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in 2018.
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” and the legislation has been sent to the Senate.
“With McConnell's backing, it's very likely to pass,” said The Week.
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