WASHINGTON — In response to a series of mass shootings, a divided House on Friday passed an assault weapons ban, overcoming the nearly unanimous opposition of Republicans to introduce a ban that expired nearly two decades ago.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi described the measure, which passed from 217 to 213, as a “critical step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation.” Only two Republicans, Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York, joined Democrats in support of the bill.
Five Democrats voted against the measure: Representatives Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Kurt Schrader of Oregon.
The legislation would make it illegal to sell, manufacture, transfer, possess or import high-capacity assault weapons and ammunition supply equipment. It has no chance of succeeding in the evenly divided Senate, where such a sweeping gun control measure would fail to win the 10 Republicans it would need to overcome a filibuster.
Still, the vote provided Democrats with a way to show voters months before the midterm elections that they were trying to tackle America’s epidemic of gun violence. The action in the House came after a spate of mass shootings, including an in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman with an AR-15-type weapon killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers. The vote also gave Democrats another chance to make a sharp distinction from Republicans.
Gun Violence and Gun Control in America
This month, the House passed legislation to: ensure access to contraception across the countryas well as important safeguards for abortion and gay marriage. While Democratic senators are hopeful they will be able to pass same-sex marriage legislation, nearly all Republicans in Congress are united in opposition to the birth control and abortion laws.
The debate over assault weapons on Friday came about a month after the… adoption of bipartisan gun safety legislationa compromise measure to tighten background checks for potential buyers under the age of 21, which aimed to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.
That move omitted tighter gun controls that Democrats have long demanded and which most Republicans are opposing as violations of the right to bear arms.
“Weapons of war are designed for war,” Texas Democrat Representative Lloyd Doggett said Friday, lamenting that such firearms are “easier for a teenager to get than to buy a beer.”
He dismissed the recently passed law as a “weak, modest measure”.
Republicans argued that AR-15-style guns are popular sporting rifles that law-abiding citizens use for self-defense and hunting. And they dismissed the assault weapons law as an attempt by liberals to trample gun rights while doing nothing to tackle the root causes of crime.
“Let’s call this for what it is: It’s a gun grab, pure and simple,” said Pennsylvania Republican Representative Guy Reschenthaler. “This bill is not about public safety. Rather, this is the most severe restriction of the Second Amendment since the passing of the assault weapons ban in 1994.”
As Friday’s vote united Democrats, the assault weapons ban sparked an intense internal debate that revealed divisions over the issue of law enforcement and crime, a theme Republicans have indicated will be a key part of their campaign attacks on Democrats before the midterm elections.
Democrats originally planned to tie the vote to ban assault weapons with legislation that would provide more money to local law enforcement. Moderate Democrats from conservative-oriented districts argued that passing the police funding would soften Republican charges that Democrats are soft on crime and bent on harming the police.
But the police legislation came in for criticism from progressives and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who insisted that more police accountability measures should be taken. With the House August recess starting this weekend, Democratic leaders decided to vote only on the assault weapons bill.
Ms. Pelosi said on Friday lawmakers would continue to work on police legislation after returning to Washington later in the summer.
“The American people are tired of living in fear,” said Massachusetts Democrat Representative Jim McGovern. “They are tired of thoughts and prayers. They are tired of press releases that offer sympathy, but no solutions.”
“This is not a radical idea,” he added. “We are not in uncharted territory.”