Twenty members of the US Senate from the Democratic and Republican parties announced that they have reached an agreement on new legislation on gun ownership in the United States, after repeated shooting incidents during the past days.
The negotiations between the two parties are led by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and Republican John Cornyn, who is a prominent supporter of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, related to the right to bear arms.
The new measures included in the agreement, which were described as limited, include encouraging states to withdraw weapons from people considered dangerous and measures to secure schools.
The members said, in a joint statement, that the agreement provides for stricter background checks for people who purchase weapons under the age of 21, and a review of their criminal and mental health records.
The proposal also seeks to clarify ambiguities about who should register as a federally licensed arms dealer for background checks.
The group, made up of Democrats and Republicans, said the draft agreement aims to protect America's children, maintain the security of its schools and reduce the risk of violence across the country.
She added that their plan "increases critical resources for mental health, improves school security, supports students, and helps ensure that dangerous criminals and those diagnosed with mental illness cannot buy weapons."
But the new measures - which require an overwhelming majority in the Senate - do not include basic reform demands called for by Democrats, led by President Joe Biden, yet the US president praised immediately after the agreement was announced "progress", which he considered insufficient but "important".
"It clearly does not include everything I believe is necessary, but it does ensure important steps in the right direction, and it will be the most important arms control legislation passed by Congress in decades," Biden said in a statement.
"With bipartisan support, there are no excuses for delay and no reason not to move quickly in the Senate and House," he added.
President Biden has been pushing for more fundamental reforms, including banning the sale of assault rifles recently used in a Texas elementary school shooting that killed 21 people and a New York state store that left 10 dead, or at least raising the age threshold for those who can buy them.
The Democratic-controlled House has passed a wide range of proposals that included raising the age to buy most semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, but the party does not have the 60 votes required to pass it in the Senate, making a bipartisan agreement the only hope for passage. Federal measures to address gun violence.
Yesterday, Saturday, Washington and more than 400 cities across the United States witnessed demonstrations to urge lawmakers in Congress to pass a law aimed at curbing armed violence, after weeks of shooting incidents that killed many civilians.
Speakers at the Washington demonstration called to confront the racism of those who believe in the superiority of the white race, and to issue legislation to stop the tragedies of armed violence.
The demonstrators carried banners denouncing the National Rifle Association, one of the most prominent pressure groups against restricting the carrying of guns in the United States.