House Passes Gun Bill With Support from 14 Republicans, Sends to Biden’s Desk
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a gun bill that saw 14 Republicans join all Democrats in support of what is the most significant gun legislation in decades.
The tally was 234-193. It passed the Senate on Thursday, 65-33, with 15 Republican Senators joining in support.
The 14 House Republicans who supported the bill were Reps. Maria Salazar (R-FL), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Fred Upton (R-MI), David Joyce (R-PA), Liz Cheney (R-WY), John Katko (R-NY), Tom Rice (R-SC), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Mike Turner (R-OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-NY), and Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), whose district includes Uvalde, where there was a shooting at an elementary school last month.
The bill, which now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature, would provide funding for states to administer red-flag laws or crisis intervention programs, close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” and enact other measures such as allocate funding for school safety.
In a Tuesday statement, the NRA expressed its opposition.
The NRA will support legislation that improves school security, promotes mental health services, and helps reduce violent crime. However, we will oppose this gun control legislation because it falls short at every level. It does little to truly address violent crime while opening the door to unnecessary burdens on the exercise of Second Amendment freedom by law-abiding gun owners.
This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, and use federal dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state and local politicians. This bill leaves too much discretion in the hands of government officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions – inviting interference with our constitutional freedoms.
On Wednesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who led GOP negotiations in the Senate for the bill, dismissed the NRA’s criticism.
“We worked with the NRA to listen to their concerns,” said Cornyn. “But in the end I think they simply — they have a membership and a business model that will not allow them to support any legislation. And so I understand where they’re coming from, but I think most people will not allow any outside group to veto good public policy.”
Watch above, via MSNBC.
