The House Judiciary Committee, which Nadler chairs, will vote on Wednesday on a proposal to ban such weapons for the first time in 20 years.
For the first time in 20 years, the House of Representatives will consider a ban on assault rifles, the weapons that have recently been used in several mass shootings that have plunged the US into mourning.
“It’s extremely scary and disturbing that a weapon that was made for war is in the hands of 18-year-olds,” said Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, referring to the age of Uvalde’s killer, who killed 19 children and two teachers inside a Texas elementary school. on May 24.
The House Judiciary Committee, which Nadler chairs, will vote Wednesday on a proposal to ban such weapons. If the measure passes, the proposal will then go to the full House, which is controlled by Democrats.
“Our caucus broadly supports a ban on assault rifles,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said yesterday.
However, the bill is not expected to pass the Senate, where it needs a supermajority of 60 votes, which means it would need to be supported by at least 10 Republican senators.
In 1994, Congress passed a law that banned the sale of assault rifles and certain high-capacity magazines for ten years. That law expired in 2004, was not renewed, and sales plummeted, especially among young people.
After the Uvalde massacre, President Joe Biden called for a ban on assault rifles or, at the very least, raising the legal age to purchase them to 21.
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