House Democrats are moving to expedite eight pieces of gun-control legislation to the chamber floor after a series of mass shootings shocked the nation in May.
The House Judiciary Committee will hold a special session Thursday during a congressional recess to review a collection of bills which aim to curb gun violence in the United States. The bills include measures to: raise the purchase age for certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, solidify a ban on bump stocks, prohibit the new sale of high-capacity magazines, increase the punishments for gun trafficking, and penalize irresponsible storage of firearms at home.
House Democrats’ timeline for advancing the bills to the floor for a vote is “ASAP,” a Judiciary Committee aid told the Hill.
Last week, an 18-year-old entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and started shooting an AR-15 at students, killing 19 children and two teachers. Earlier in May, a single gunman stormed a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. and fired a gun both in the parking lot and inside the store, killing ten people and wounding three.
The string of massacres has intensified pressure on Congress to enact legislation that keeps guns out of dangerous hands and fortifies vulnerable public settings such as schools.
In the Senate, similar initiatives have been spearheaded by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers. One proposal being discussed would use federal grants to incentivize states to pass red flag laws, which would allow the confiscation of a firearm from an individual deemed threatening. In early June, House Democrats will vote on federal red flag legislation that would permit courts to order the removal of a firearm if a judge determines they are dangerous.
Expanded background checks have also been pitched in the Senate, but some Republicans have pushed back on the idea, pointing out that most recent mass shooters, including the gunman in Buffalo and Uvalde, legally purchased the rifles they used after passing a background check.
While many Republicans have advocated for securing schools with armed guards or other extra safety measures, Democrats have called for immediate gun control. Even moderate Republican representative Adam Kinzinger, for instance, suggested last weekend that he might be amenable to an outright ban on AR-15 rifles, the weapon of choice for mass shootings but not the firearm responsible for the bulk of gun fatalities.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press conference Tuesday that President Biden does not “believe in” proposals to bolster security in schools, such as by arming teachers, against potential gunmen.
“I know there’s been conversation about hardening schools, that is not something he believes in,” she told reporters. “He believes that we should be able to give teachers the resources to be able to do their job.”