Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger joins the Live show to break down the U.S Senate’s decision to pass a bipartisan gun control bill.
Video Transcript
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BRAD SMITH: Welcome back to "Yahoo Finance Live," everyone. The US Senate officially passed a bipartisan gun control bill yesterday, the first gun control bill to come out of Congress in almost three decades. Joining us with the details of the bill, which is now heading to the House, we've got Yahoo Finance's own Jennifer Schonberger. Jennifer, what do we know?
JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Good morning, Brad. That's right, the Senate passing the most significant firearms legislation in decades for who can own a gun, with more than a handful of Republicans joining Democrats.
- The yeas are 65. The nays are 33. The motion to concur with an amendment is agreed to.
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JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: The legislation provides roughly $15 billion in funding to help states put in place laws to remove guns from people deemed dangerous. It also closes the so-called boyfriend loophole, which bars people convicted of crimes related to dating violence from owning firearms. And it strengthens background checks and mental health records for buyers under the age of 21. The bill would also increase penalties for buying a gun for someone else and gun trafficking. Of the spending, more than half would be used to fund mental health programs and bolster school safety.
The vote capped a month of negotiations led by senators Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, and John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, after mass shootings at a supermarket and elementary school in May galvanized lawmakers to come together. After an assault weapons ban expired in 2004, Congress tried and repeatedly failed to enact anything substantive. Now, this bill is expected to be quickly taken up in the House. Most House Democrats do support this, with a handful of Republicans expected to join. Though, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy opposes this bill and urges Republicans to vote against it. President Biden is eager to sign this as soon as possible. Guys.
JULIE HYMAN: Hey, Jen, at the same time, while this big progress was being made in Washington, there was also a big setback in Washington, this one coming from the Supreme Court with regard to guns.
JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Yeah, that's right, Julie. And I think that Congress is looking at that and thinking, you know, we need to make some more progress on that as well, but we're going to call this a victory for now.
JULIE HYMAN: And then on the flip side, you are also watching what's going on in the energy front. Yesterday, Jennifer Granholm, the Energy Secretary, speaking with oil company executives. You've been following that.