US House passes assault rifle ban, but bill likely doomed to fail in Senate
- Gun reform remains deeply divisive in the United States with only two Republicans joining Democrats to back the assault weapons ban in the House
- Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the latest bill a ‘crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation’
The US House of Representatives, spurred by a series of horrific mass shootings, passed a bill on Friday that would ban assault weapons for the first time in decades.
The legislation was approved by a 217 to 213 vote in the Democratic-majority House and now goes to the Senate – where it is likely doomed to fail.
Gun reform remains deeply divisive in the United States – despite the deadly scourge of mass shootings – with only two Republicans joining Democrats to back the assault weapons ban in the House.
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In the 100-member Senate, Democrats have just 50 seats and 10 Republican votes are needed to bring a measure to the floor for consideration.
Congress passed a 10-year ban on assault rifles and certain high-capacity magazines in 1994 but lawmakers let it expire in 2004 and sales of the weapons have soared since then.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the latest bill a “crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation.”
It would ban the sale, import, manufacture or transfer of certain semi-automatic weapons such as those used in recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, Uvalde, Texas, and Highland Park, Illinois.
An avowed white supremacist shot dead 10 African Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo in May.