Saturday, President Joe Biden signed the first major federal gun law bill in the United States in decades, saying that while it fell short of what was really needed, it "saves lives," reported AFP.

 

"God willing, it's going to save a lot of lives," Biden said when he finished signing the bill.

 

It represents the most significant new federal legislation to address gun violence since the expired 10-year assault weapons ban of 1994. However, the bill fails to ban any weapons, reported CNN.

 

The measure includes USD 750 million to assist states in implementing mental health programs, school safety, crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System meaning there would be enhanced background checks for younger gun buyers, media outlets reported. 

 

Additionally, money was allocated to crack down on "straw purchasers," which refers to those who purchase firearms for people who are not allowed to keep them.

 

The law also provides support for state-by-state laws that allow authorities to remove firearms from anyone they consider a danger.

 

"While this law doesn't cover everything I want, it does include measures that I have been calling for for a long time that will save lives," Biden said at the White House before leaving for major diplomatic meetings in Europe.

 

On Friday, the US Congress adopted a law that won the support of members of both the Republican and Democratic parties, aimed at gun control.

 

Biden had hoped for much more that what was achieved as the country greatly suffers from gun violence, the latest of which was when 21 people were killed, including 19 children, in their school in Uvalde, Texas, at the end of May, as well as the Buffalo massacre in New York State, where 10 black people were killed in a supermarket in mid-May.