Comment House Democrats approved an assault weapons ban for the first time in nearly 30 years on Friday, a legislative achievement on a politically charged issue that tested caucus unity. The historic legislation passed 217-213, largely along party lines with only two Republicans voting in favor. The bill faces virtually no chance of passage in an evenly divided Senate. Passing an assault weapons ban is a major accomplishment for either chamber of Congress. Multiple attempts to even consider the legislation in committee were rebuffed. But the rise in mass shootings that have touched every corner of American life since the previous ban on assault weapons expired in 2004 has catapulted the issue to a top priority for Democrats, who have long pushed for overhauls of gun laws. And more recently, a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead prompted many Democrats to push House leaders to bring the ban to the floor, according to several members and aides briefed on the term. of anonymity to describe private conversations. The House Judiciary Committee cleared the bill last week, giving the legislation the go-ahead for Friday’s historic vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) presided over the vote, excitedly reading the results to the floor before Democrats broke into cheers. “When guns are the number one killer of children in America, when more children die from guns than the police and the active duty military combined, we must act. Today, House Democrats acted,” President Biden said in a statement. The Democrats’ narrow margin in the House allows for only four absences. The bill would have failed if not for the two Republicans who re-scored the margins after five Democrats voted against it. Rep. Chris Jacobs (RN.Y.) voted in favor, just months after he reversed his position on an assault weapons ban that was affected by racially motivated shootings in his hometown of Buffalo and the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) is running in a competitive district not far from liberal Philadelphia. The five Democrats who voted against were Reps. Henry Cuellar (Tex.), Vicente Gonzalez (Tex.), Jared Golden (Maine), Ron Kind (Wis.) and Kurt Schrader (Ore.). Golden, Cuellar and Gonzalez are in competitive races, while Kind and Schrader will not return to Congress. Schrader said he voted against the legislation on Friday because “getting rid of semi-automatic weapons undermines the Second Amendment,” an argument echoed by Republicans. Gonzalez previously noted that banning assault weapons may not end mass shootings, citing that high-capacity magazines and bump stocks — currently banned by executive order — can still kill people quickly. While Democrats were largely united at the outset in support of a party platform issue — more than 200 Democrats co-sponsored the legislation under the leadership of Rep. David N. Cicilline (DR.I.) — competing interests among vulnerable Democrats representing districts and more liberal counterparts risked its passage at several points on Friday afternoon. The fate of the ban was initially tied to a package of public safety bills that included, among other measures, community funding to curb violence and legislation dismantling a civil liability law that protects gun owners. However, an initial bipartisan proposal to double funding for local law enforcement grants issued by the Department of Justice was met with skepticism by members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus. The impasse led to a delay in considering the entire package. But overnight Thursday, CBC members struck a deal with Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Josh Gottheimer (DN.J.) to add language to a public safety bill that includes additional accountability measures linked to receipt of funds. The CPC learned late Thursday night of the deal, angering members that they were not involved in the process, according to several lawmakers and aides who spoke on condition of anonymity to clarify the private conversations. Additionally, several members remained angry that they would have to vote to fund the police in order to vote to ban assault weapons. Many in the Liberal caucus spent Friday morning pushing to delink the assault weapons ban from the public safety package and hold separate votes. Numerous civil rights groups, including the ACLU, wrote letters to Democratic leadership Friday morning asking them not to consider Spanberger’s bipartisan bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice (R.C.). But removing the assault weapons ban from the rest of the public safety package was dangerous. Many Democrats previously said they would vote against it or were leaning that way because they didn’t agree with the outright ban. But front-line Democrats were angered when leadership decided to postpone a vote on public safety bills until mid-August, instead of siding with liberals to pass an assault weapons ban on Friday, according to several people familiar with the matter. group discussions. Many vulnerable Democrats were furious, threatening to sink a procedural vote needed to pass the legislation. Kind indicated he would vote against the ban early Friday out of frustration, noting that increased funding for DOJ grants is something “my folks back home need most.” “Last-minute legislation has never really been a good way to put together a package, especially one as important as this,” he said, echoing several Democrats who have expressed concern about how quickly some bills are brought to the floor by leaders. “You would hope there would be a little more time to review and look at some of the problems with the legislation before they quickly set it.” Vulnerable Democratic members are pushing leaders to consider messaging bills that would fund police departments, hoping to dissuade Republicans from attacking them as soft on crime. It’s a campaign message that many members still believe cost them a significant number of seats in the 2020 election. Democrats had hoped to leave Washington on a high after helping pass a bipartisan bill to boost domestic manufacturing and technology and a deal in the Senate that includes tax, climate and health care reform priorities. “We applaud Speaker Pelosi and the House leadership for advancing the assault weapons ban to a stand-alone vote today,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Progressive Caucus. “We are also pleased that this bill, which reflects the consensus of the Democratic Caucus, will move quickly while a separate public safety legislative package continues to be developed and revised.”
