Amid loud applause, an assault weapon ban passed the House of Representatives on Friday, but just barely. It’s off to the Senate now, where it’s likely to die.
In very tight vote, 217 to 213, the House passed the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 on Friday evening. Even though it was very close, those who voted “yea” were very pleased with themselves:
“Two Republicans, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Chris Jacobs, R-N.Y., broke with their party to vote yes on the bill. Five Democrats, Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Oreg., and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc. broke with their party to vote no,” reports Fox News.
Chris Jacobs voted yes, after ten people were killed in his state during a mass shooting at a grocery store.
The bill “calls for prohibiting the sale, manufacture, transfer or import of various semi-automatic assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols and semi-automatic shotguns, depending on their features,” reports The Hill.
In a speech on the House floor before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Our nation has watched in unspeakable horror as assault weapons have been used in massacre after massacre in communities across the country. And disturbingly, so many of these mass shootings have targeted our precious children. In their schools, at the movies, at the malls and throughout our communities. That is why I rise today in strong support in reinstating the assault weapons ban, a long-overdue step to get deadly weapons off our streets.”
According to Joe Biden, most Americans want to see a ban of assault weapons. A Fox News poll from June found that 63% of Americans say they would support an assault weapons ban. Biden urged the Senate to pass the bill, saying, “The majority of the American people agree with this common sense action. The should Senate (sic) move quickly to get this bill to my desk, and I will not stop fighting until it does. There can be no greater responsibility than to do all we can to ensure the safety of our families, our children, our homes, our communities, and our nation. Today, House Democrats acted by unifying to pass an assault weapons ban to keep weapons of war off our streets, save lives in this country, and reduce crime in our communities.”
The legislation would need 60 votes in the Senate to beat a filibuster, which is not expected to happen.
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Congressional Republicans generally believe that an assault weapons ban violates the Second Amendment and wouldn’t help stop gun violence. Democrats don’t seem to care much if it violates the Second Amendment if it would save lives. What do you think?
