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The Democrats’ move to pass restrictive gun control legislation in Congress will likely be met with harsh resistance when it reaches the Senate. On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 223-204 to pass a gun legislation package called the “Protecting Our Kids Act.”
According to a report from Axios, the bill is proposing to do the following:
- Raise the legal age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21,
- Ban the import, sale, and manufacturing of large-capacity magazines,
- Establish regulations on how to store firearms on private, residential properties.
However, while the vote will now proceed to the Senate, most political commentators and GOP lawmakers believe that the bill will be dead upon arrival.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday pledged to oppose the bill in a statement made on Twitter. “The House-passed gun control bill is an extreme constitutional overreach,” he stated. “It represents the wish list of the Left when it comes to #GunControl. I will vigorously oppose this measure. It will go nowhere in the Senate.”
A report from the Guardian postulated that the bill has “almost no chance” of passing in the Senate, which has favored a more tempered approach to the gun debate centered on mental health and beefing up school security in American schools.
Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA, pointed out on Twitter that 10 Republicans in the House voted with 218 Democrats to advance the gun control package.
He added, “Any politician that supports a law preventing 18-year-olds from owning semi-automatic weapons must immediately answer why the 18-year-olds would still be allowed to carry that same type of gun out to die for their stupid, senseless war games 5,000 miles away from here.”
RSBN previously reported that Democrats need at least 60 votes to bypass the filibuster in the Senate, requiring 10 Republicans to depart from party lines to vote with Democrats to pass the bill, which is very unlikely.
Democrats’ attempt to pass this gun control package appears to be little more than empty rhetoric that is doomed to fail in the Senate, where Republicans will probably stonewall legislative attacks on the Second Amendment.
