Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022

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The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 was a firearm regulation and mental health bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden (D) on June 25, 2022.[1].

The United States Senate voted 64-34 to approve a motion to proceed on June 21.[2] The Senate voted 65-34 to invoke cloture on the bill on June 23, and approved the bill in a 65-33 vote on the same day.[3][4] The House approved the bill in a 234-193 vote on June 24.[5]

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released the bill in the form of an amendment to S. 2938 on June 21, 2022.[2] Features of the bill included:[6][7][8][9]

  • Expanded background checks for individuals under the age of 21 purchasing firearms.
  • Providing $11 billion for mental health services, including increased funding for the Medicaid Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic program, increased funding for school-based mental health programs, and investments in pediatric mental healthcare services.
  • Preventing individuals who have been convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor or felony in dating relationships from purchasing firearms for five years.
  • Providing $750 million for state grants to implement crisis intervention order programs, also referred to as red-flag laws, that would allow authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals who have been determined by a court to be a significant danger to themselves or others. The grants could also be used to support mental health courts, drug courts, veterans courts, and extreme risk protection orders.
  • Providing $2 billion for community-based violence prevention initiatives.

Negotiations on the bill began after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. On June 12, a working group of senators announced they had reached an agreement on the bill's framework. The 20 senators who participated in the working group included:[10]


This page provides the following information about the bill:

Timeline

The following section provides an abbreviated timeline of key actions related to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022.

  • June 25, 2022: President Joe Biden (D) signed the bill into law.[1]
  • June 24, 2022: The House approved the bill in a 234-193 vote.[5]
  • June 23, 2022:
    • The Senate approved the bill in a 65-33 vote.[4]
    • The Senate voted 65-34 to invoke cloture.[3]
  • June 21, 2022:
  • June 12, 2022: A bipartisan working group of 20 senators announced they had agreed upon a framework for the bill.[10]

Roll calls

House vote on the motion to concur (June 24, 2022)

The House voted 234-193 to pass the bill on June 24, 2022.[5]

Senate vote on the motion to concur (June 23, 2022)

The Senate voted 65-33 to pass the bill on June 23, 2022.[4]

Senate vote to invoke cloture (June 23, 2022)

The Senate voted 65-34 to invoke cloture on June 23, 2022.[3]

Senate vote on the motion to proceed (June 21, 2022)

The Senate voted 64-34 in favor of the motion to proceed on June 21, 2022.[2]

Text of the bill

The legislative text below was released by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on June 21, 2022.[11]

Key legislation during Biden administration

This section provides links to coverage of key federal legislation considered during the Biden administration. To be included, the bill must have met several of the following qualifying factors:

  • Collaboration between the president and congressional leadership on the bill
  • Use of the reconciliation process to pass the bill
  • Changes to the congressional procedure to pass the bill
  • Estimated cost of the bill as evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office
  • Extent of public relations campaign to promote the bill
  • Domestic and international policy ramifications

Legislation in the 118th Congress

Legislation in the 117th Congress

See also

Footnotes