(FreedomBeacon.com)- There’s a growing list of Republican senators who have publicly stated they support the bipartisan gun control bill, and Mitt Romney of Utah is one of them.
Over the weekend, a bipartisan group of senators announced they have reached an agreement that they said would keep American families safe while reducing gun violence. Romney is one of the 10 Republican senators who signed onto that deal already, along with 10 Democratic senators.
If those 10 Republicans stay true to their early word and vote in favor of the package — and all Democrats do as well — then the bill would pass through the Senate. Then, it would just need the final stamp of approval from the Democratic-led House before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk for a signature.
Over the weekend, the group put out a press release to announce the deal, which said:
“Our plan increases mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons. Most importantly, our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans.”
The bill is still in the draft stage, so nothing has been finalized yet. However, some details of the framework of the bill have been released.
It would include extra funding for school safety resources and for mental health and support services provided in schools. It would increase the investigative period for any gun purchaser who was under 21 years old, which would allow checks of local law enforcement and state databases, as well as mental health and juvenile records.
It would seek to crack down on people purchase guns illegally on behalf of people who are prohibited from owning a gun. And it would include people who have been convicted of domestic abuse or who are subject to a domestic violence restraining order in NICS.
This latest push for more gun control comes in the wake of 29 mass shootings that have occurred in the United States in June thus far. Two of the most prominent ones happened at a grocery store in Buffalo, where a gunman targeted a Black community and killed 10 people; and at an elementary school in Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Romney has long been a supporter of some gun control. In the past, he has said he would support increased background checks on a federal level, as well as having states work to adopt so-called “red flag laws” on their own.
After the bipartisan gun control agreement was announced, Romney took to Twitter to speak about his stance, writing:
“Families deserve to feel safe and secure in their communities. Proud to join my colleagues on this commonsense, bipartisan proposal that will save lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. It deserves broad support.”
It appears that the bill will get broad support, even if it’s not nearly as much as some of the Democrats would like.