WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — On the last day before starting a 45-day recess, the House passed a bill to revive a ban on certain semi-automatic guns.
“We have a gun violence crisis in our country,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said.
McGovern says his bill is not meant to take guns away from Americans and would allow all current AR-15 owners to keep them.
“Rights come with responsibilities. And we have a responsibility to try and stop mass shootings,” McGovern said.
Democrats argue that military-style assault weapons are a common thread in most mass shootings and that’s a good reason to outlaw future purchases.
“That is what killed those children in Parkland, Highland, that’s what killed them in Uvalde, in Buffalo. That’s what killed these people in El Paso,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said.
However, Republicans like Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Penn.) argue the bill would be both unconstitutional and ineffective.
“This is the most severe restriction on the second amendment since the passage of the assault weapons ban of 1994,” Reschenthaler said.
And Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) says law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be asked to pay the price.
“For years, the democrats told us ‘we’re not coming for your guns.’ Oh yes they are,” Jordan said. “The second amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. But they don’t care.”
If the Senate takes up this bill, it will face an uphill battle to gain enough Republican support.
