(Washington) For the first time in 20 years, the US House of Representatives will vote on a ban on assault rifles, weapons used in the recent killings that have mourned the United States, an elected official announced on Friday.
Posted at 12:35 p.m.
“It is extremely frightening and disturbing that a weapon that was designed as an instrument of war finds itself in the hands of 18-year-olds,” said Democrat Jerry Nadler, referring to the age of the Uvalde shooter. , who killed 19 children and two teachers in a Texas elementary school on May 24.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democrat Jerry Nadler
The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives that this elected chair will vote on Wednesday on the prohibition of this type of weapon. If the measure is adopted by this committee, it will then be submitted to a vote of all the elected members of the House, controlled by the Democrats.
“Our caucus broadly supports a ban on assault rifles,” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.
But barring a huge surprise, the law would fail to pass the Senate stage, where the support of ten Republicans, very protective of the right of Americans to bear arms, would be necessary because of qualified majority rules.
In 1994, Congress passed a law banning for ten years assault rifles, designed to cause maximum casualties, and certain high-capacity magazines. It expired in 2004 and sales have since soared, especially among young people.
After the Uvalde massacre, President Joe Biden had pleaded for a ban on assault rifles, or at least to raise the legal age to 21 to obtain them.
Gathered at the foot of the US Congress on Wednesday, parents of young victims of this tragedy had again implored elected officials to ban the sale of assault rifles.