Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst split votes on bipartisan gun bill

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the U.S. Senate’s passage of the gun bill Thursday night and Iowa Republican U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley’s and Joni Ernst’s vote on final passage of the bill.

Iowa's two Republican .U.S. senators split Thursday in their votes on a bipartisan gun safety measure aimed at keeping guns away from dangerous people in the wake of several mass shootings.

The $13 billion measure would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. It would also fund local programs for school safety, mental health and violence prevention.

The bill passed the Senate with a 65-33 vote, with U.S. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley voting against and fellow Iowa Republican Joni Ernst joining 14 other Republican senators to pass the bipartisan measure aimed at curbing gun violence.

The House planned to vote Friday and approval seemed certain, the Associted Press reported.

Iowa Repulican U.S. Rep. Ashely Hinson of Marion told The Gazette Thursday there are many part of the Senate bill she supports, including increased mental health funding, training for law enforcement and bolstering school security.

“However, I have concerns that parts of this legislation violate due process rights,” Hinson said in a statement. “Legislative solutions must keep guns from getting into the wrong hands without violating the rights of law-abiding gun owners. I am closely reviewing this legislation to ensure that standard is met.”

Grassley calls relationship definition too vague

Grassley, in a statement, said he voted against the bill over concerns of “vauge” legal definitions and due process rights of gun owners.

“Schools should be the safest place for our kids. I share the concerns of Iowans who are disgusted with gun violence, especially when those tragedies involve children,” Grassley said in the statement. “Much of their legislation is good, but I have very specific concerns about safeguarding constitutional due process rights that prevent me from supporting the bill in its entirety.”

Among other measures, the bill bans convicted domestic abusers, including those in serious dating relationships, from buying a gun for at least five years, a step toward closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole."

Grassley said he thought the definition of a dating relationship in the bill was "too vague."

The bill defines "dating relationship" as a "relationship between two people who have or recently had a continuing serious romantic or intimate relationship.“

The bill also clarifies that "a casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a dating relationship."

“There are legal definitions too vague to be enforced, or at least consistently enforced,” Grassley said. “Courts and respondents must always be able to determine who is subject to the law. It turned me against the legislation when I heard my colleagues say that the courts would have to sort out what the bill means. This ambiguity needed to be clarified, so Americans can read and understand the law with certainty and so no one’s constitutional rights are inappropriately swept up without recourse. Unfortunately, there was no process to make these necessary clarifications.”

Grassley said he will “continue working to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, promote responsible gun ownership and advance legislation like the EAGLES Act to prevent mass shootings before they happen, while also protecting Iowans’ Second Amendment and constitutional due process rights.”

The proposal would also make juvenile and mental health records available during background checks when someone under the age of 21 buys a gun and funnels federal funds to states enacting "red-flag laws" which aim to temporarily confiscate guns from people considered to be dangerous.

It also puts millions of dollars toward expanding mental health programs in communities and schools and bolstering school safety. The bill also hardens penalties for so-called "straw purchasing," when individuals buy guns for people barred from purchasing firearms.

Ernst says bill ‘does not take away rights’

Ernst was one of 15 Republican senators who voted to pass the bill, saying in a statement, “This bill does not take away the rights of any law-abiding American."

“As a lifelong supporter of the Second Amendment, proud gun owner, and combat veteran, I’m adamantly opposed to any infringement on our Constitutional Rights,” Ernst said in a statement. “Every American wants to keep our kids and our schools safe and provide folks access to mental health treatment, and this proposal helps do that without placing new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. I have been disgusted by the radical Left’s longstanding attempts to exploit horrific tragedies to pursue their partisan agenda, pushing a false narrative that the only way to stop murderers is to infringe on law-abiding citizens’ rights. They are wrong, and this bill shows that.”

– Tom Barton of the Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report