What the gun measure does
WASHINGTON — The bipartisan gun violence bill the Senate approved Thursday and the House sent to President Joe Biden on Friday targets expanded background checks, provides funding for mental health and education programs and creates federal penalties for gun traffickers.
State and local juvenile and mental health records of gun purchasers will be part of federal background checks for buyers ages 18 to 20. The three-day maximum for gathering records lengthened to up to 10 days to search juvenile data. If 10 days lapse without resolution, the sale goes through.
Under the new law, convicted domestic violence offenders are denied guns if they have a current or past “continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” with a victim. Abusers’ right to buy firearms are restored after five years if no additional violent crimes are committed. Firearms are currently denied to domestic abusers if they are married, live with or had a child with their victim.
Federal aid will be offered to the 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have “red flag” laws helping authorities get court orders to temporarily remove guns from people deemed dangerous. Those states would need strong processes for challenging the taking of firearms. Other states could use money for crisis intervention programs.
The bill expands community behavioral health clinics. It helps states bolster mental health programs in schools and provide more mental health consultations remotely.
The legislation also increases spending on school mental health, crisis intervention, violence prevention programs, mental health worker training and school safety.
Current law requires people “engaged in the business” of selling guns to be federally licensed, which means they must conduct background checks. The new bill defines that as selling firearms “to predominantly earn a profit” in an effort to prosecute people who evade the requirement.
It creates federal crimes for gun traffickers and “straw purchasers” who buy guns for people who would not pass background checks, with penalties up to 25 years in prison. Such offenders are now primarily prosecuted for paperwork violations.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates $13 billion, mostly for mental health and schools. That is more than paid for by further delaying a 2020 regulation that’s never taken effect requiring drug manufacturers to give rebates to Medicare recipients. That regulation would increase federal Medicare costs.