“Although different statutes disqualified different groups at different times, they reflect the same enduring principle: Legislatures may disarm those who are not law-abiding, responsible citizens,” the brief said. The Biden administration argued in a brief that Congress has long had the power to disarm people who are not responsible citizens. The group argued that Congress had enacted the law “through a bipartisan and deliberative legislative process, and Congress has continued to build on that foundation in a deliberative and bipartisan manner.”

He said the best hope for passing more legislation would have to come after next year’s elections.

Still, the bill, along with the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization last year, contained the first gun control provisions to pass into law in years.Ĭoons was one of the bipartisan sponsors of that reauthorization law, which increased notification requirements for failed background checks. That gun violence prevention bill included only a handful of gun control provisions, such as expanding background checks for gun purchasers under age 21 to include records from when they were minors. That would be “a big step backwards, and that would make any future progress even less likely,” he said.Ī bipartisan gun violence reduction law that was enacted last year arose out of specific conversations between legislators in response to mass shootings, Coons said. “If there is a broader sense that the Supreme Court is beginning to move in an action that restricts our range of action for gun safety, that may create a political sense that this is just not something we are going to be able to legislate on,” Coons said.Ĭoons, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said such a decision also could affect the dynamic between lawmakers when discussing what legislation would be possible.

The first casino in the world