US Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on a bipartisan gun violence bill.
The deal tees up votes this week on a package that would stand as Congress's response to recent mass shootings in Texas and New York.
Nine days after Senate negotiators agreed to a framework proposal — and 29 years after Congress last enacted major firearms curbs — Democratic senator Chris Murphy told reporters a final accord on the proposal's details had been reached and was "in good shape".
Moments later, Texas Republican senator John Cornyn, the chief Republican bargainer, said he, Mr Murphy and the other two top Senate negotiators had reached agreement.
The legislation would toughen background checks for the youngest firearms buyers, require more sellers to conduct background checks, and beef up penalties for gun traffickers.
It also would give states and communities money for improving school safety and mental health initiatives.
It lacks the far more potent proposals that President Joe Biden supports and Democrats have pushed for years without success, which have been derailed by Republican opposition.
These include banning assault-type weapons or raising the minimum age for buying them, prohibiting high-capacity magazines and requiring background checks for virtually all gun sales.
Yet if enacted, the election-year agreement would spotlight a modest but telling shift in the politics of an issue that has defied compromise since Bill Clinton was president.
Ten black shoppers were killed by a gunman last month in Buffalo, New York, and 19 children and two teachers were shot dead by another assailant days later in Uvalde, Texas.
"I believe that the same people who are telling us to do something are sending us a clear message, to do what we can to keep our children and communities safe.
"I'm confident this legislation moves us in a positive direction."
A majority of Republicans are expected to oppose the legislation.
Delegates booed Mr Cornyn at his state's Republican convention on Saturday as he described the measure.
It will need at least 10 Republican votes to reach the 60-vote threshold major bills often need in the 50-50 Senate.
The last time Congress took major action on gun control was in 1993, when a decade-long ban on assault-type firearms was introduced.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he wants his chamber to debate and vote on the legislation this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also said she backed the effort.
AP
