A recent vote held in the House of Representatives ended along mostly partisan lines this past Friday as it sought to push through a ban against various semi-automatic firearms, but the bill is highly expected to fail in its trip through the Senate.
The bill, labeled the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2022,” was officially let through with a slim margin vote of 217-213 and is trying “to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited.” The bill itself will reinstate the ban on assault weapons that was put in place from 1994-2004 and also prohibit the sale or manufacture of various firearms (such as AR-15s), pistols, and shotguns all based on the features that they sport.
Quite a few other Democrats, including Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Ron Kind (D-WI), and Kurt Schrader (D-OR) voted against the bill, while Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-NY) cast their votes in favor of the ban.
“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,” expressed Biden via a release. “The majority of the American people agree with this common sense action.”
The bill is not expected to make it through its stint in the Senate since it would require the crossing of the aisle of more than 10 Republican senators in order to not deal with the Filibuster.
Many House Republicans labeled the bill an outright attempt to damage and redefine the Second Amendment.
“This is the first time in American history, I believe, that a chamber of the Congress will pass a bill openly defying the Supreme Court’s explicit declaration of the rights of the American people,” stated Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) on the floor of the House, highlighting rulings in the Supreme Court such as D.C. v. Heller, which stated that the American citizens had the right to own firearms due to the Constitution.
It was stated by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) that, if officially signed into law, the legislation would end up banning multiple millions of guns that are already owned by Americans, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) eluded to the border crisis as one of the main reasons as to why Americans need to be armed.
“We shouldn’t be talking about disarming the American people, when it is my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that are leaving the American people exposed to dangerous cartels and dangerous narcotics flying to our communities, and dangerous criminal gang members, and criminals that are coming in and harming the American people, including people that are affiliated with terrorist countries and organizations,” explained the Texas Republican.
The legislation was called an outright “gun grab” by Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA).
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