Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) characterized the new gun safety legislation as a political loss for President Joe Biden.
The Texas Republican helped negotiate the bipartisan agreement that would require additional scrutiny for gun buyers younger than 21, pay for state implementation of red-flag laws, and boost spending for mental health treatment and school security.
But Cornyn bragged to Raw Story Monday morning that Biden got very little that he asked for in the bill.
"People are going to describe this the wrong way, but fundamentally this is about keeping our kids safe at school," Cornyn told Raw Story. "Look at all the things that President Biden said he wanted -- none of that's in there. But we're going to focus on school safety and mental health, identifying these young men before they become dangerous, getting them treatment or certainly, they go to buy a firearm accessing the state juvenile records to meet with an enhanced review makes a lot of sense."
The president had called on Congress to ban assault weapons or raise the age to purchase one from 18 to 21 in response to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and Biden also asked for a ban on high-capacity magazines and improvements to background checks, red-flag laws and legal liability for gun manufacturers.
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US firearms makers produced over 139 million guns for the commercial market over the two decades from 2000, including 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to a new government report.
Another 71 million firearms were imported in the same period -- compared to just 7.5 million exported -- underscoring how the country is literally swimming in personal weapons that have stoked a surge in gun violence, murders and suicides, according to the Justice Department report.
The report shows that while Americans have made favorites of semi-automatic assault rifles seen in many mass shootings, they have bought en masse the increasingly cheap, easy-to-use and accurate semi-automatic 9 mm pistols like those that most police now use.
And, the report shows, authorities face a surge in unregistered "ghost guns" made at home with parts that can be bought online and produced with 3-D printer, and pistols and short-barrelled rifles that are as powerful and lethal as the semi-automatic assault rifles used in mass shootings.
"We can only address the current rise in violence if we have the best available information and use the most effective tools and research to fuel our efforts," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.