House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks at a rally with armed violence prevention organizations, survivors of armed violence and hundreds of gun security supporters calling for arms legislation outside the United States Capitol in Washington, June 8, 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The House on Wednesday passed a gun bill that would raise the minimum age for buying an assault rifle in the U.S. from 18 to 21, though the legislation has little chance in the Senate.
The bill, called the Protection of Our Children Act, would also ban the sale of high-capacity magazines and establish new rules that dictate proper storage of weapons at home.
The Democratic House passed legislation in a 223 to 204 vote. It passed in a majority party vote: five Republicans supported the measure, while two Democrats opposed it.
The House previously voted with a margin of 228 to 199 to include the provision on the age of purchase, under heavy scrutiny after two recent massacres by 18-year-olds, in the broader bill.
The package is a collection of various laws designed to limit access to firearms and other firearms equipment following last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, which left 31 dead Americans.
Another component of the legislation, called the Untraceable Firearms Act, would be to tighten regulations on so-called ghost weapons, or those firearms without a serial number. It is much more difficult for law enforcement to trace the ownership and possession of firearms that do not have serial numbers.
While House Democrats passed stronger gun laws in response to the massacres, their success is largely symbolic. Senate Republicans, who have the power to block legislation with an obstruction that requires 60 votes to overcome it, are united in their opposition to the House’s restrictions on guns and will prevent the bill from moving forward.
The 50-50 split in the Senate, which gives Vice President Kamala Harris the key vote in the tiebreaker, means Democrats must persuade 10 Republicans to pass any legislation. A bipartisan group of senators is negotiating a more restrictive compromise bill that they say would strengthen background checks, improve mental health services and strengthen school safety.
Political analysts say neither the May 24 elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, nor the May 14 racist attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, are likely to garner enough support for the project. law passed by the House.
A gunman at Robb Elementary in Uvalde shot dead 19 children and two teachers, while the attacker in a predominantly black Buffalo neighborhood killed 10 people. Both gunmen were 18 years old and carrying AR-15-style assault rifles.
The victims’ parents, law enforcement and an 11-year-old survivor of the Uvalde shooting appeared before Congress on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to pass new gun laws.
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Kimberly Rubio, the mother of the death of 10-year-old Lexi Rubio, told lawmakers in tears that she did not want her daughter to remember “just one number.”
“She was smart, compassionate and athletic. She was calm, shy unless she had a point to explain,” Rubio told the House Oversight Committee. “Somewhere, there is a mother who hears our testimony thinking, ‘I can’t even imagine her pain,’ not knowing that our reality will one day be hers. Unless we act now.”
Following the two massacres, Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Blessed bipartisan talks in the upper house on a more restricted set of new firearms rules.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, lead these deliberations, which have so far focused on stricter background checks and red-flag laws.
Red-flag laws allow family members, co-workers, or police to apply to a court to confiscate a person’s weapons for a specified period of time if the person is considered a threat to themselves or for the public.
The ideas of the bipartisan Senate, while much less strict, are the best option for Democrats to send any gun legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk for him to sign. The president, who has called on federal lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws, met with Murphy on Tuesday to discuss bipartisan negotiations.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that Biden supports red flag laws and stricter background checks.
“We understand that not all components of what the president is asking for will stop all tragedies,” Jean-Pierre said. “But we have to take the steps, and we have to move forward, and we have to do something.”
Despite overwhelming support from Congress and White House Democrats, new gun legislation is facing difficulties in the Senate, its aides say, as the vast majority of Republicans would never vote even a little stricter. weapons bills.
Cornyn acknowledged this political reality from the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, but gave an optimistic tone to talks between parties.
“I am happy to say that we are constantly moving forward on this issue. It is at the beginning of the process, but I am optimistic about where things are right now,” he said. “What am I optimistic about? I am optimistic that we can pass a bill in the Senate, which can be passed by the House and get President Biden’s signature. And it will become the law of the land.”
The Texas Republican said he has focused on the importance of ensuring that young adults have access to mental health services and that schools have sufficient safety protocols.
He also noted that another idea being considered is a law that would require states to hang juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Record Verification System.
“Because this young man from Uvalde turned 18 and there was no review of his youth history, he passed a background check. It’s as if he was born on his 18th birthday and nothing of what had happened before it was important, “Cornyn said. “This is obviously a problem.”