On Wednesday, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the lead Republican architect of the bipartisan gun safety bill framework, expressed concerns about two of the bill’s key provisions — but Democratic negotiators are optimistic those issues can be resolved.
“I'm starting to get a little concerned, though, that there are a couple of issues that need to be settled before we can reach an agreement,” he told reporters. “One of the issues … is whether the funds that we will vote for will be available to states that don't have red flag laws, but do have crisis intervention programs and things like mental health courts, veterans courts, assisted outpatient treatment programs.
The bipartisan framework would provide funding for states to implement their own ERPO statutes, but, as Cornyn emphasized in a floor speech on Tuesday, “none of what we are proposing would create a national red flag law.” “I think we're more interested in the red wave than we are in red flags, quite honestly,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.,But Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the Republicans who backs the bipartisan framework, said that their framework will “mandate” due process, citing red flag laws in Republican-led states like Indiana and Florida.interview with CNN on Wednesday