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House passes slate of bills to restrict access to guns and ammunition; it faces long odds in Senate
The House on Wednesday passed a series of new gun measures, including raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Politics
WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday passed a series of new gun measures, including a measure to raise the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, in response to a horrific spate of mass shootings across the country.
The legislative package passed in a 223-204 vote, with five Republicans joining all but two Democrats in support. It now heads to the evenly split Senate, which is not expected to take up the legislation as negotiators seek to craft a much narrower measure designed to win enough bipartisan support to overcome a GOP filibuster.
Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon opposed the bill. The five Republicans who bucked their party were Chris Jacobs of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
The Protecting Our Kids Act, written by Democrats, is an attempt to offer the party's vision for gun laws and to pressure Republican lawmakers who are resistant to tougher limits in response to a wave of mass shootings.
“Why? Why would someone be against raising the age so that teenagers do not have AK-47s?” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday at an event with advocates seeking to reduce gun violence. “Yes, they say mental health issues. Yes, we want to address mental health issues. Other countries have mental health issues. They don’t have a gun violence epidemic.”
House Republican leaders had sent an email to GOP offices pressuring members to vote “no” on the bill, derisively labeling it the “Unconstitutional Gun Restrictions Act.”
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said Congress should try to address the root cause of the problem and not impose gun restrictions, arguing that lawmakers did not ban airplanes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“Airplanes were used that day as the weapon to kill thousands of people and to inflict terror on our country. There wasn’t a conversation about banning airplanes,” Scalise told reporters.
The Protecting Our Kids Act would ban large-capacity ammunition feeding devices and toughen penalties for gun trafficking and “straw purchases.” It also would establish residential gun storage rules, with criminal penalties for violations. In addition, it would require registration for bump stock-type devices and modify the definition of a "ghost gun" that is subject to regulation.
Republicans face some pressure to back tougher laws after recent shootings — including the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — shocked the nation. A recent CBS News poll found that U.S. adults prefer stricter gun laws over less strict measures by a 5-to-1 ratio.
In the poll, 77 percent of respondents said the minimum age to buy semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 should be 21, if not older.