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Capito Among 15 Republicans Backing Bipartisan Gun Reform Legislation

photo by: AP Photo

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the budget for the FBI in Washington on May 25.

CHARLESTON — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was among the Republican lawmakers needed Thursday to get the new gun safety bill past a filibuster and followed that up with a vote for final passage.

Speaking to West Virginia reporters on a virtual briefing from Capitol Hill on Thursday right after casting her vote for cloture, Capito, R-W.Va., said the vote was another sign that Democrats and Republicans can come together and craft legislation.

“It’s very important, I think, for the American people to see us do something,” Capito said.

The bill text for the gun safety proposal, called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, was finalized Tuesday by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. The bill came about after a group of 10 Republican and nine Democratic senators — including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. — negotiated the bill’s proposals.

“This is a piece of legislation that will do an awful lot of good, and this is something we can build off of,” Manchin said Thursday afternoon in a speech on the Senate floor. “This is something that is long overdue. …This is a good bill that has bipartisan support. I’m so proud of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. It’s time to move forward.”

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes funding for mental health and wrap-around services in schools, provisions to include those convicted in domestic violence cases or under domestic violence restraining orders in the federal background check program, and cracking down on individuals not in compliance with requirements for federally licensed firearms dealers.

Some of the package’s major provisions include new enhanced background checks for gun purchasers between the ages of 18 and 21 by utilizing juvenile and mental health records to determine eligibility. The package includes increased penalties for anyone who purchases guns through straw purchases for the purpose of trafficking guns. And it includes grant funding for states that pass red flag laws.

The bill passed late Thursday in a 65-33 vote, with 15 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats, including their two allied independents. The bill is now on its way to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“In West Virginia, I have always protected Second Amendment rights and I will continue to do that. This does not take anybody’s Second Amendment rights away,” Capito said. “I believe that if we are going to meet this challenge of these massive shootings, of the mental health issues, of the school safety issues that are associated with these tragedies, that we need to do something.”

Capito said the bill’s provisions for grant funding for states that implement red flag laws isn’t an issue in West Virginia, where a 2021 state law already prohibits law enforcement agencies from enforcing orders under red flag laws for anyone who has a lawful right to possess a firearm. But Capito said the state could benefit from funding in the bill that could benefit schools and the mental health system.

The bill is a response to recent mass shootings, including a shooting at an elementary school and Uvalde, Texas, last month.

“We have got to take the position that we are going to protect our children,” Manchin said. “This is what this is about. It’s a child protection bill.”

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