Tammy Baldwin backs gun safety bill
Bill passed 65-to-33, with Johnson voting against
The first major gun safety measure in decades cleared the U.S. Senate late Thursday, with Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin supporting the bill while Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson opposed the legislation.
The bill passed by 65-to-33, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, voting for the bill. The House also passed the bill on Friday.
Baldwin said in a statement that after years of Congressional inaction on guns, “we move from doing nothing to saving lives.”
Johnson called the bill “a classic example of Washington dysfunction. Negotiated by a ‘gang’ with no committee process and no ability to offer amendments, billions in spending with a phantom pay for, and provisions that ignore constitutional rights.”
The bill included a measure that Johnson championed, codifying the SchoolSafety.gov program, a national clearinghouse that provides evidencebased resources to improve school safety. Johnson’s initiative was named after Luke Hoyer and Alex Schachter, who were killed in the school shooting in
Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.
The limited yet historic legislation was crafted by a small group of senators, led by Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican John Cornyn of Texas. The breakthrough came in the wake of the May 24 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The $13 billion Safer Communities Act provides new funding to bolster mental health services, improve school security and help states to set up so-called “red flag laws” to enable authorities to temporarily take away guns from individuals who are a threat to themselves or others.
The bill also toughens background checks for some gun buyers.
In a statement, Baldwin said the legislation “will help protect people from gun violence, help reduce mass shootings and help keep kids safe at school.”
“We are taking a positive step forward to expand background checks, protect survivors of domestic violence, and help Wisconsin join 19 other states that have put in place red flag laws that allow law enforcement or family members to petition courts to temporarily remove deadly firearms from someone who is a threat to themselves or someone else.” The bill provides $150 million to support implementation of the 9-8-8 suicide and crisis lifeline that provides support for those facing distress. Baldwin introduced legislation in 2019 that led to the creation of the telephone lifeline.