BUFFALO, N.Y. — From the halls of Congress, Senate Majority Leader and New New York Senator Chuck Schumer touted the recently announced agreement between Democrats and Republicans. The New York Times reports that it calls for deeper background checks for anyone under age 21 to buy a gun including juvenile records, grants for states to introduce red flag laws, and more funding for mental health and school security upgrades.
Schumer told reporters in New York City that this "agreement is a good first step in ending persistent inaction to gun violence that has plagued our nation, and terrorized our children."
Again Schumer did point out it's only a first step. But some other Democratic lawmakers seemed a bit more dismissive about it.
Representative Brian Higgins of Buffalo said, "It's a hopeful sign but to me, but it falls short. Not to have comprehensive background checks and a ban on assault weapons falls considerably short from what we need."
Higgins added, "There is a greater need for more substantial gun safety. This is not about a compromise so that everybody goes home and pretends that all this stuff is going to change. They should be following the lead of the House...a ban on assault weapons."
Actually, while an assault weapons ban is not in the Senate deal it was also not included in what was called the sweeping reforms of the House-passed gun control package passed by Congressman Higgins and others last week. Higgins, President Biden, and many other Democrats would like to see that happen but the majority of Republican lawmakers reject it citing Second Amendment rights.
The House version did raise the age to 21 for anyone to purchase such a weapon but that is not expected to go anywhere in the split Senate.
The Senate deal does call for expanded background checks for gun buyers under 21 with their juvenile records... help for states with red flag laws - even though that process in New York State did not stop the Buffalo shooter...then again more funding for school security and especially mental health programs.
Higgins says, "I'm afraid that some use the mental health issue as a scapegoat to get around the core issue. And then the core issue is access to weapons of mass destruction that aren't used for hunting...they're used to kill people."
But again 2 On Your Side pressed Higgins on the mental health aspect of mass shootings based on comments of area psychiatrists and even educators concerned about the impact of COVID remote learning and isolation.
We asked, "Is there any concern that the mental health component could be lost in this overall debate?" Higgins replied, "It will never be lost in it because it's invoked all the time by all the advocates for addressing the issue of mass shootings."
In addition, this Senate deal has some background check language. However, Higgins is skeptical of that as well.
"It sounds better but I'm more concerned about what it does in practice. Because when you say what's the definition of expansion...who does it include who doesn't it include."
This Senate measure does provide a push to help states develop their own red flag laws, which appear here in New York state but did not stop the shooter who underwent state police and psychiatric evaluation for a high school threat. That was stiffened recently by state lawmakers.