Senate Passes Bipartisan Gun Safety Legislation Negotiated by Senator Collins and 11 Colleagues

Tonight by a vote of 65-33, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to protect America's children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration.

Senator Collins was a member of the group of 12 Senators led by Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) who negotiated this gun safety legislation. Immediately prior to the vote, Senator Collins delivered remarks from the Senate floor urging her colleagues to support the bill.

"As a member of the group of 12 Senators led by Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) who negotiated this gun safety legislation, we have reached consensus on a bipartisan bill, which represents the most significant gun safety legislation in decades. Our plan will help prevent gun violence while protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans," said Senator Collins. "As I strongly advocated for, our bill will fund crisis intervention programs like Maine's yellow flag law. Maine's law has robust due process provisions that allow a court, following an assessment by a medical professional, to determine if a person should temporarily lose possession of firearms because they pose a serious threat to themselves or others. Our bill will also help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals by including provisions based on a bill I authored with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to crack down on straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. Additionally, our bill will strengthen mental health resources and improve school safety. These improvements will not infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners."

During her remarks this evening, Senator Collins highlighted two specific provisions of the bill that she worked on:

The bill will fund crisis intervention programs like Maine's yellow flag law, which the Maine Supreme Court upheld as constitutional this week. Maine's law, which has robust due process protections, allows a court--following an assessment by a medical professional--to determine if individuals should temporarily lose possession of firearms because they pose a serious threat to themselves or to others. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will provide Maine with more resources to fully implement this important program. It will help connect law enforcement, medical professionals, and people in crisis through telehealth services, as well as provide additional financial help to ensure that the law can be efficiently and effectively utilized when necessary.

The bill includes the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act that Senator Collins co-authored with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), which cracks down on straw purchasing and firearms trafficking. Senator Collins worked with Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) to further refine the proposal. Straw purchasers--individuals who purchase guns for other people who are prohibited by law from receiving such weapons--are the linchpin of most firearms trafficking operations, which are responsible for funneling firearms into our cities and across the Southern border. Currently, there is no criminal statute specifically prohibiting straw purchasing or firearms trafficking in the way that we need it to do. Instead, prosecutors rely primarily on "paperwork violations" that prohibit making false statements in connection with the purchase of a firearm. Senator Collins' provision in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act establishes new, specific criminal offenses with significant penalties for straw purchasers and firearms traffickers, along with enhanced penalties when straw-purchased firearms are used in connection with serious criminal activity like terrorism or drug trafficking.

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