Cornyn Op-Ed: Four Years Later, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is Making a Difference

Cornyn Op-Ed: Four Years Later, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is Making a Difference News Cornyn Op-Ed: Four Years Later, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is Making a Difference June 29, 2026 AUSTIN – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) authored the following op-ed in the San Antonio Express-News highlighting the success of his Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) , which was signed into law in 2022 following the tragic Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas: Four years later, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is making a difference Senator John Cornyn San Antonio-Express News June 27, 2026 https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/bipartisan-gun-legislation-working-as-intended-22322166.php It’s been four years since the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act , or the BSCA, was signed into law. My Senate colleagues and I carefully crafted this legislation in response to the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers died on May 24, 2022. I am proud of the work we did to reject the calls for extreme measures that would have encroached on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans and instead delivered a practical solution, narrowly tailored to address the root causes of this senseless violence. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Texas in grants for school safety and mental health infrastructure, and created new authorities to prosecute gun trafficking, all while protecting the due process rights of law-abiding firearms owners. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act marked a historic investment in resources for mental health and school safety . Texas has received more than $300 million to strengthen mental health care and school safety. These resources have allowed school districts to upgrade security cameras, implement threat alert systems and improve emergency response plans. This law expanded the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic, or CCBHC, program, which has allowed clinics to expand their services for mental health and substance use disorders. There are now more than 500 CCBHCs operating in 46 states. Because of these provisions, those who are mentally troubled are more likely to receive the help they need, and children attending schools are safer due to enhanced security measures. This law also created narrow, targeted provisions consistent with existing law to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill using the National Instant Background Check, or NICS, system. Of course, some loud voices have tried to erode support for these narrow reforms by labeling them as gun control measures, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act created new authorities that empower the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute individuals for firearms trafficking and straw purchasing when someone purchases a gun on behalf of another person who is legally ineligible to do so. Straw purchases are the primary way criminals arm themselves, including the individual who threatened President Donald Trump’s life at Trump International Golf Course in September 2024. The DOJ has convicted nearly 500 criminals under the new straw purchasing and firearms trafficking provisions in my law, while another 716 people are facing charges under these provisions. Before the BSCA, the only penalty a criminal faced for a straw purchase was for lying on their firearms transaction form, a minor offense that many prosecutors would not bother to litigate. Now, because of my law, the DOJ has a way to combat cartel violence and prosecute individuals who engage in firearms trafficking. This law also incentivized states to upload disqualifying juvenile criminal and mental health records into NICS, so they can be considered for purchasers between the ages of 18 and 21. The lack of such records in NICS is the reason the Uvalde shooter had no problem buying weapons within days of his 18th birthday. His juvenile records would have shown he was a deeply troubled young man who had a history of fighting, threatening fellow students and abusing animals. These warning signs were no less serious simply because they happened while he was a minor. This provision has been knowingly mischaracterized as a mandatory waiting period for anyone younger than 21 seeking to purchase a firearm. Quite the opposite, this law requires a determination based on the review of NICS records to be made within a strict, short window of time. Less than 0.01% of all firearms background checks are affected by this review, but those that have, have proven necessary. They include an 18-year-old who attempted to purchase a long gun in Nebraska after making terroristic threats as a minor, as well as a 20-year-old drug dealer with a juvenile felony adjudication who attempted to do the same in Arizona. Without the BSCA, these individuals never would have been discovered or rightfully denied access to purchase a