Senators Announce Bipartisan Gun Proposal That Excludes Assault Weapon Ban

Sunday, members of the Senate announced a bipartisan agreement on gun legislation. The proposal was announced by lawmakers such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NY), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), and others.

“Today, we are announcing a commonsense, bipartisan to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country," said the lawmakers. The announcement goes on to mention that “Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities. Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons.” The announcement concludes, “Most importantly, our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We look forward earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense proposal into law.”

According to the Cornyn press release, the proposal includes: support for state crisis intervention orders, investment in children and family mental health services, protections for victims of domestic violence, funding for school-based mental health and supportive services, funding for school safety resources, a more clear definition of what a federally licensed firearms dealer is, telehealth investments, straw purchasing, and perhaps the most notable inclusion, an under 21 enhanced review process “for buyers under 21 years of age, requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.”

Ryan Petty, who is a member of the FL Board of Education and father to Alaina Petty, a victim of the Parkland shooting in 2018, is credited with helping pass gun legislation by many following the event. He tweeted this following in response to the the Senators' announcement.

“The gun grabbers ‘should’ be big mad today. The announced compromise in the Senate leaves out their 3 big wishlist items. 1. Universal background checks  2. Assault Weapons Ban  3. Raising the age to purchase to 21  At this point, I think they’re ready to call anything a win," stated Petty.

Perhaps the last sentence by Petty was in reference to the record gas prices, record inflation numbers, and the economy stalling which has caused Democrats to grasp for anything remotely close to a win. Petty also pointed out that the bipartisan gun bill excludes a ban on "assault weapons" like the AR-15.

For instance, former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and gun control activist David Hogg put out a tweet celebrating the compromise despite the fact that the bill doesn’t come close to an “assault weapons ban” (which still lacks a proper definition) which has been one of the main focuses of Hogg’s activism. He was called out a couple of weeks ago by people such as Petty for attempting to take credit for influencing the Florida gun bill that was passed following the Parkland shooting.

“When senators reach a bi-partisan deal on guns for the first time in 30 years – time to celebrate with the breakfast of champions," stated Hogg, who has been championing an assault weapons ban.

You can’t always get what you want, and Hogg appears content with conceding his support for an assault weapons ban.