House Moves to Raise Minimum Age to Buy Semi-Automatic Weapons in Sweeping Gun Bill
Thomas Peipert/AP/Shutterstock Eagles Nest Armory gun shop
The House is working to toughen up gun control following recent mass shootings across the United States.
On Wednesday, the House passed a package called the "Protecting Our Kids Act," which includes raising the legal age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 years old and establishing new federal offenses for gun trafficking and for selling large-capacity magazines, CNN reported.
In the 223-to-204 vote, which mostly fell on party lines, five Republicans backed the legislation while two Democrats voted against it.
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Democratic Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon opposed the bill, NBC News reported. The five Republicans in its favor were Chris Jacobs of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
David Buchan/Shutterstock Gun owners wait outside a gun store for access
The bill will now move onto the Senate where it is not expected to pass, USA Today reported, as Republicans have enough votes to block it.
"Even if our Senate colleagues do not take up these exact bills, I will tell you what this process we are going through will absolutely do and why our efforts here are worthwhile: This process will unequivocally show where each and every one of us stand in the wake of this unspeakable tragedy," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), The Washington Post reported.
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The package also includes "proposals that would crack down on gun trafficking, create new safe-storage requirements for gun owners, and codify executive orders that ban untraceable 'ghost guns' as well as 'bump stock' devices that allow a semiautomatic rifle to mimic machine-gun fire," the newspaper explained.
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The vote came shortly after a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform where people connected to the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed by a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle at Robb Elementary School shared their testimonies urging stricter gun laws.
One of the first to offer his testimony Wednesday morning was Dr. Roy Guerrero, a pediatrician who treated many of the victims of the Uvalde shooting.
"Those mothers' cries I will never get out of my head," Guerrero said.
The first student he came across, he said, was 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo, a student in Uvalde who covered herself in her dead classmate's blood in an effort to avoid being shot. Miah, he said, was "in shock" and shaking from adrenaline.
Miah gave her own pre-recorded testimony during Wednesday's hearing.
"He shot my friend Elizabeth. I thought he was going to come back to the room so I grabbed the blood and put it all over me," Miah said. "And then I got my teacher's phone and called 911 ... and told them that we need help."
Asked whether she felt safe in school, Miah nodded "no," saying she fears something similar could happen again.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty A makeshift memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were fatally shot May 24.
The mass shooting came less than two weeks after an alleged white supremacist killed 10 people inside a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Authorities have said the Buffalo shooting was a hate crime in which the suspect targeted Black people.
According to USA Today, while the bill is not expected to pass in the Senate, a bipartisan group of senators is negotiating a narrower gun-control package, focusing on red-flag laws, mental health and school safety.
NBC News reported that the slimmer bill will likely not include raising the rifle purchasing age.
The school district in Uvalde has opened an official account with First State Bank of Uvalde to support Robb Elementary families affected by the tragedy. People can send checks through the mail (payable to the "Robb School Memorial Fund") or donate money through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com. People can also donate by calling 830-356-2273.
