Lawmakers in the gridlocked U.S. Senate announced a framework for legislation meant to address public mass shootings in schools while also building upon the nation’s mental health foundation.
Announced on Sunday, the proposed plan would enact certain gun-reform policies and pave the way for several mental health- and school safety-related efforts. Ultimately, the goal would be to prevent future mass shootings, such as the high-profile killings over the last few weeks, including the May 25 rampage that left 19 fourth graders and their two teachers dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The announcement came from a working group of 21 senators: 1o Republicans, 10 Democrats and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.
“Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities,” the announcement reads. “Our plan increases needed 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.”
The negotiations were led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
In part, the framework seeks to close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” and crack down on straw purchases. It also seeks to clarify and crack down on dealers trying to avoid federal licensure, as well as add an additional review for gun buyers under the age of 21. It does not, however, attempt to ban any type of firearm or limit gun ownership.
In terms of mental health, the framework calls for additional funding to school-based mental health resources and a nationwide rollout of the certified community behavioral health centers (CCBHCs) model.
The CCBHC model, established in 2014, requires organizations to provide mental health care, substance use treatment and additional services — including 24-hour crisis care and comprehensive outpatient services — through a Medicaid grant program that helps cover the actual cost of care and care coordination. There is a bill in the Senate to facilitate that rollout.
On top of that, the proposal seeks further investments in suicide prevention, along with the following provisions:
- More funding for early identification and intervention programs
- Additional support for school-based mental health and wrap-around services
- Investments around expanding telehealth access to behavioral health for children and young adults
The announcement came on the sixth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, where a gunman killed 49 and wounded 53 people.
A problematic association for mental health
In the days following the Uvalde shooting (and other mass shootings that happened just before and after Uvalde), a coalition of 60 national advocacy groups and professional associations condemned the conflation of gun violence with mental health conditions.
The groups signed onto a letter meant “to express our deep concerns about false and harmful attempts to link mental illness and gun violence.” Signatories included the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, The Jed Foundation, The Kennedy Forum, The American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness.
“Attempts to connect mental illness to mass shootings are a distraction that inflicts enormous damage by taking attention from solutions that could actually prevent such events,” the letter states. “This perpetuates a false narrative that encourages stigmatization of and discrimination against the millions of Americans living with mental health conditions who are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it.”
It’s not clear how several of the organizations view the new framework that explicitly makes ties between mental health and mass violence. Behavioral Health Business has not yet received comment on the matter from several organizations.
The letter further calls gun violence in the U.S. a public health crisis and states that mental health reforms will not solve gun violence.
“While mental health conditions are common in countries across the globe, the United States is the only country where mass shootings have become disturbingly commonplace,” the letter states. “To prevent more carnage, policymakers must act now to address the national crisis of gun violence and work on a bipartisan basis to pass meaningful solutions that promote gun safety in all of our communities.”
What now?
Prospects for the bill appear to be positive with the support of 10 Senate Republicans behind the effort as well as the effort of leadership on both sides in the Senate, the White House and House Democrats.
Having the tentative support of 10 Republicans allows any coming bill to overcome procedural rules that would stymie its passage which requires a supermajority of 60 votes.
Democrats occupy 50 seats in the Senate, with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) acting as wildcards that have moved against party priorities in the past. However, Sinema’s and Manchin’s names are on the joint announcement of the bill.
President Joe Biden ultimately celebrated that senators reached a tentative agreement, according to a statement from the White House.
While Biden said the deal doesn’t encapsulate all the reforms on his executive agenda, he said it was the most significant progress made on gun regulation in decades. In 1994, Biden, then a Democrat senator for Delaware, sponsored the Senate version of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. It included a ban on 19 specific types of guns it defined as “assault weapons” and high-capacity ammunition magazines, among other firearm-related items.
The ban was not renewed past the sunset in September 2004.
“Each day that passes, more children are killed in this country: the sooner it comes to my desk, the sooner I can sign it, and the sooner we can use these measures to save lives.” the White House statement reads. “With bipartisan support, there are no excuses for delay, and no reason why it should not quickly move through the Senate and the House.”
Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed their support for the framework. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had not publicized his position on the framework as of the writing of this article.
“Once the text of this agreement is finalized, I will put this bill on the floor as soon as possible so that the Senate can act quickly to advance gun-safety legislation,” Schumer said in a statement.
It’s also not clear if a bill that comes out of this framework will be the package lawmakers earlier in the year promised to deliver during the Summer. The Senate Finance Committee released in May draft legislation around mental health and telehealth regulations.
While the package does show movement on the role of schools in improving the worsening mental health of American youth, other key agenda items for mental health reform are not included in the framework. These, in part, include reforms around reimbursement parity and the regulation of medication-assisted treatment after COVID-era regulations lapse.
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