US one step closer from historic gun law reforms after House of Representatives passes first gun control bill since 1994

In a historic feat, the US House of Representatives passed a gun control legislation approved earlier by the Senate, breaking a congressional logjam that prevented reforms for 30 years.

The bill is now headed for President Joe Biden's desk for his signature and enactment, which is anticipated as his aides have said he is waiting to sign it. "With this bipartisan package, we take the first steps to fight back on behalf of the American people, who desperately want new measures to keep communities safe in the high numbers in the polling," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on the floor of the House. "To those who lacked the courage to join in this work, I say your political survival is insignificant compared to the survival of our children."

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The last gun laws reform was in 1994 when assault weapons were banned. The new legislation, which has been described as a modest attempt at reforming America's famously lax gun laws, follows an outpouring of national outrage and frustration over the recent killings of 10 African Americans in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas just 10 days apart.

The bill was negotiated by a bipartisan group of 10 Democratic and 10 Republican members of the Senate, led by Chris Murphy and John Cornyn respectively. It cleared the Senate in a 65-33 vote with 15 Republicans voting with all 50 democrats in the 100-member chamber. The House passed it mostly along party lines 234 to 193, with 15 Republicans joining all Democrats.

What measures do the new legislation include? 

• Tougher background checks for customers younger than 21 years 
• $15 billion in federal funding for mental health programs and school security upgrades
• Calls for funding to encourage states to implement "red flag" laws to remove firearms from people considered a threat
• The legislation also aims to close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" by blocking gun sales to those convicted of abusing unmarried intimate partners.

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"This is the sweet spot a making America safer, especially for kids in school, without making our country one bit less free," Mitch McConnell, the top Republican senator, had said on the floor of the chamber after the passage of the legislation in the senate. "I thought it was time to act, and if (Democrats) were willing to join with us and pass legislation that actually targeted the problem, which is school safety and mental health, why would we not want to do that?"