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DNA Explainer: What is US bipartisan gun safety bill and its provisions?

Named as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the aim of this US gun safety bill, introduced on Tuesday, is to make the communities safer.

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In a significant move, the United States Senate has passed a gun control bill amidst the rising cases of mass shooting. This is being termed as the most significant firearms legislation in nearly 30 years. 
The bipartisan bill was passed on Thursday night with a final vote of 65 to 33, with 15 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the measure.

This marks a significant bipartisan breakthrough on one of the most contentious policy issues in the United States. The bill was passed hours after the US Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to carry firearms in public for their safety and self-defence.

Read | US Senate passes first gun control bill in 28 years, know list of measures new legislation includes

From here, the bill will now be sent to the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives, after which it will be sent to US President Joe Biden for his approval. Rising gun violence is becoming a menace for the United States. Only a month ago, a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas in an elementary school killed 21 people, including 19 children.

Prior to that, a racial shooting in a Buffalo supermarket in New York brutally injured 10 black people.

What is the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act?

The aim of the bill, introduced on Tuesday is to make the communities safer, naming it as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The 80-page bipartisan bill focuses on firearms and improving medical care in the United States. According to the provisions of the bill, funds will be released for educational institutions, to expand their mental health resources and make schools safer.

The gun control bill, as the name suggests, seeks to ensure strict background checks for gun buyers, especially minors. It also states that if a firearm is being transferred to a person less than 21 years, there has to be a thorough background check. This will help authorities determine whether the person has a possibly disqualifying juvenile record.

In case further investigation is needed, the licensee should be notified within 10 days that transferring or receiving a firearm for them is a violation. The bill also puts penalties on straw purchasing, which is buying a firearm on behalf of someone else. The penalty for straw purchasing, as stated in the bill, will be from 15 to 25 years of imprisonment.

The law, however, will allow those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes to restore their gun rights after five years if they haven't committed other crimes.

What does the reforms include?

1. Tougher background checks for buyers younger than 21 years of age.

2. USD 15 billion in federal funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades.

3. Funding to encourage states to implement 'red flag' laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat.

4. Blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners.

Why the need for gun control bill?

There are an estimated 393 million firearms currently in the United States. 

It has the highest rate of firearms deaths among the world's wealthy nations.

More than 20,900 people have been killed in gun violence in the US this year.

Gun rights here are protected by the Constitution's Second Amendment to 'keep and bear arms'.

The last federal gun control legislation was passed in 1994 but expired a decade later.

It banned the manufacture for civilian use of assault rifles and large capacity magazines.

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