March for Our Lives applauds bipartisan gun safety bill

Student-led organization March for Our Lives praised the Senate bipartisan gun safety bill on Tuesday, saying the new bill is “what progress looks like.” 

“This is what progress looks like. Just ten days ago, thousands of Americans came together, laid down our differences and demanded that our elected leaders do the same in order to address a common threat: the urgent crisis of gun violence,” the organization said in its statement on Tuesday. 

“The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act provides long-awaited federal solutions to the key causes of gun deaths in this country: too many weapons in the wrong hands and inadequate resources for the health of individuals and communities,” it added.  

March for Our Lives also expressed its gratitude to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the lead negotiators of the bill, for his “tireless efforts” to bring the gun safety bill to life as well as to the mass shooting survivors and gun reform activists who put pressure on politicians to address the issue.

“To be clear, while this doesn’t include everything we need to declare victory on the gun violence epidemic, it is substantive progress. This bill shows us that it is actually possible to break through partisan gridlock in Congress to find common ground on what the vast majority of Americans actually agree on,” the organization said, adding that the fight will go on to address gun safety in this country.

March for Our Lives was launched in 2018 in response to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where seventeen students and teachers were killed. 

“When this bill passes, it will be the first substantial piece of federal gun safety legislation to become law in our lifetime. That’s worth celebrating,” the organization concluded. “We will keep fighting until Congress takes every step possible to end the gun violence epidemic.”

This comes as Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on Tuesday on bipartisan gun safety legislation. 

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will include funding for school safety resources, expanded background checks for buyers under the age of 21, penalties for straw purchases of firearms and new protections for domestic violence victims. 

The bill, which came in response to a recent string of mass shootings in the U.S., is expected to pass in the Senate, as 10 GOP lawmakers already signed off on the framework of the legislation.