The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Friday barely passed a sweeping bill that would ban the sale, import, and manufacture of most semi-auto firearms in the country.
Over 120 pages long, H. R. 1808 is much more restrictive than the previous federal "Assault Weapon Ban" of 1994. While it would grandfather the guns and magazines currently in circulation-- including at least 24 million AR-15 and AK-style rifles – as there is no provision to pass on such legally-owned property, within a generation these popular firearms would be broadly illegal.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordon (R-Ohio), who voted against the proposal, made clear on the House floor that he felt the soothing rhetoric of “no one is coming for your guns" was clearly false, saying, "For years, the Democrats told us ‘We’re not coming for your guns.’ Oh yes, they are. Let us be clear, the Second Amendment is as clear as possible and that's their beef. The Second Amendment says that the right to keep and bear arms 'shall not be infringed' but they don't care."
The bill narrowly passed in a 217-213 roll call with one Republican, U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, not voting. There were a handful of lawmakers that crossed party lines, although more Democrats voted against the bill (5) than Republicans who voted for it (2). The Dems who voted against the AWB were Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Jared Golden (Maine) and Ron Kind (Wisc.). The Republicans who jumped ship and voted for gun control were Reps. Chris Jacobs (NY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa).
The bill now proceeds to the Senate, where a similar measure, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calf)'s S.736, already has 37 co-sponsors.
President Biden, who was at the signing of the 1994 AWB and has frequently called for it to be reinstated, said in a statement from the White House that "The Senate should move quickly to get this bill to my desk, and I will not stop fighting until it does."
Likewise, every national anti-gun group issued glowing statements praising Congress for its action on eventually outlawing tens of millions of legally owned firearms.
"Once again, Speaker Pelosi and the gun violence prevention majority in the House of Representatives have taken action to address the public health epidemic we uniquely face here in America, with the urgency it deserves," said Kris Brown, president of Brady, in a celebratory press release typical of those issued Friday by gun control groups. "Weapons of war have no place in our communities and every day we wait to renew and improve the Assault Weapons Ban, more lives will be lost."
Meanwhile, the trade group of the firearms industry, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, sent the below statement to Guns.com.
NSSF®, the firearm industry trade association, condemns the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 1808, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, as amended. The legislation ignores the Constitutional right, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, for law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms that are in common use. NSSF estimates that there are over 24.4 million Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) in circulation in America between 1990 and 2020.
“This legislation is as dangerous as it is revealing of the contempt that the House Democrats hold for the Constitution and the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Chairman Jerrold Nadler admitted during debate in his committee that he didn’t care the legislation was unconstitutional and defied Supreme Court precedent. Democratic representatives are not fulfilling the interest of ‘the People,’ instead representing special-interest gun control groups that seek to disarm law-abiding citizens and scapegoat them for crimes committed by others.”
The MSR remains the most-popular selling centerfire semiautomatic rifle in the United States today. There are more MSRs in circulation today than there are Ford F-Series trucks on the road. The Supreme Court upheld that commonly-owned firearms are lawful for private ownership in both the Heller and Bruen rulings. Banning of an entire class of semiautomatic firearms can be viewed as nothing short of an outright infringement of Second Amendment rights – rights which belong to the people and not the government. This legislation, however, also includes some semiautomatic shotguns and handguns.
This legislation does nothing to improve public safety, as it doesn’t address criminals acting without regard for law or innocent life. Instead, it will put the lives of those who obey the law at greater risk by denying them an entire class of firearms that are used for home defense.
The previous 1994 Assault Weapons Ban proved to be ineffective at reducing crime. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded the “assault weapons ban” did not result in crime reduction.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report shows more murders were committed by individuals using knives, fists and clubs than by those using any rifle – not just MSRs like AR-15s.
Banner image: Assorted Springfield Armory modern sporting rifles including a SAINT Edge AR-15 and ATC Elite. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
