House lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that would ban assault-style weapons, securing a significant victory for Democrats following a spate of mass shootings in the United States, but received little support from Republicans.
The bill marks the first time that lawmakers have approved a prohibition on the popular firearm in more than two decades. The legislation, which was titled the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, cleared the chamber in a narrow 217-213 vote.
Assault-Style Weapons Ban
Several Democrats voted no on the bill, including Henry Cuellar, Jared Golden, Vicente Gonzalez, Kurt Schrader, and Ron Kind. On the other hand, a few Republicans supported the legislation, including Chris Jacobs and Brian Fitzpatrick.
On Friday morning, White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would take up the legislation that afternoon, scheduling the last-minute vote days after she said the chamber would punt consideration of the legislation to next month.
Democrats have been planning to move the assault weapons ban with community safety legislation under one rule. However, they ultimately decided to consider them separately after some liberals expressed concerns about a lack of accountability in the police measures, as per The Hill.
Rep. David Cicilline led the assault weapons ban legislation and was co-sponsored by 207 voting Democrats. It specifically calls for the prohibition of the sale, manufacture, and transfer or import of various semi-automatic assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, and semi-automatic shotguns, depending on their features.
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One example of the ban being enforced is for all semi-automatic rifles that can accept detachable magazines and have a pistol grip, a forward grip, a grenade launcher, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel, or a folding, telescoping or detachable stock.
According to CNN, despite the legislation not being expected to amass the required 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, Democrats in the House have argued that the string of recent mass shootings involving such firearms is a pressing reason to ban them.
Recent Mass Shootings
In a statement, Pelosi said that the Democratic Majority will take up and pass the Assault Weapons Ban legislation. She called it a crucial step in their ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence that is plaguing the United States.
The vote on Friday came as progressives, moderates, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus are divided on how to handle the policing funding component of a broader public safety package. Moderate and vulnerable Democrats have been pushing for a vote on the policing legislation before they leave town in an effort to rebut GOP attacks over defunding the police.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents Gilroy, California, said that the killer who opened fire on the annual Garlic Festival killed three and injured 17 others in July 2019. She noted that the gunman could not buy assault weapons in California so he simply went over to Nevada and bought them there.
Currently, there is no vote scheduled in the Senate, which plans to break for a month-long recess starting on Aug. 8. And with the recent coronavirus exposures among senators, it is unlikely that the Senate will vote on the ban next week, USA Today reported.
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