On Friday (July 29), the House passed legislation banning assault rifles, marking the first time in two decades lawmakers have approved a prohibition on popular firearms.
The legislation — a victory for Democrats who’ve been calling for a ban since a recent spate of mass shootings — narrowly cleared the Chamber 217-213.
The bill titled the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 got support from two Republican lawmakers: Reps. Chris Jacobs (N.Y.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA.).
Five Democrats opposed the bill, these were: Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Kurt Schrader (Oregon), Ron Kind (Wyo.), and Vincente Gonzalez (Texas).
The announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) that the House would take up the legislation was last-minute, reneging on her previous statement that they would wait until August.
Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) led the call for the ban, which was co-sponsored by 207 voting Democrats.
The bill targets the sale, import, manufacture, and transfer of a list of specific automatic pistols, semi-automatic assault weapons, and semi-automatic shotguns with a handful of features.
One such example of a semi-automatic rifle banned would be semi-automatic rifles with the following features: the ability to accept detachable magazines and have a pistol grip, a forward grip, a grenade launcher, and a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding, telescoping or detachable stock.
Such a ban is also supported by most voters, according to a Fox News poll that showed 63 percent of registered voters favored a ban on assault rifles.
