On Friday, the US House of Representatives passed in first reading a bill banning the sale, manufacture, transfer or import of various semi-automatic assault weapons.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 217 to 213 to ban assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons, which have been used in many shootings in the United States.
Although the text approved by Democratic President Joe Biden passed in the House of Representatives, it looks set to fail in the Senate as absolute majority rules in that House require 10 Republicans, along with their 50 Democrats, to vote to ban assault rifles. .
But such a possibility is unlikely because there is wide division on the gun issue, with only two Republican lawmakers joining Democrats in passing the text, AFP reported.
Notably, in 1994, Congress managed to pass a law banning assault rifles and some high-capacity magazines for 10 years, but the law expired in 2004, and since then, sales of these weapons, promoted by manufacturers as “sporting rifles.”
According to a parliamentary report, over the past decade, sales of these weapons have brought in more than one billion dollars.
The shooting of an AR-15 at a Texas school (21 dead), a supermarket frequented by African Americans (10 dead) and a National Day parade (7 dead) have recently revived calls to ban the weapon.
After the bloodbath at the Ovaldi school, the US president appealed to Congress to at least raise the age for buying these guns to 21.
The White House on Friday reaffirmed its support for the measure, which would “save lives.”
“Forty thousand Americans die every year from gunshot wounds, and firearms have become the number one killer of children in the United States,” the statement said.
So far, Republicans seem to be united against the measure, which they consider a violation of the Second Amendment to the right to bear arms.
They only agreed, under pressure, to support a very limited law that strengthens the means to confiscate guns from violent spouses and strengthens the means to ensure mental health and school safety.
