The House of Representative on Friday passed the Assault Weapons Ban that would impose the first ban in decades on semi-automatic assault-style weapons. Though it passed mostly along partisan lines, both Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vincente Gonzalez fell out of step with their party by voting against the bill.
The last-minute vote was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday morning just hours before the chamber was set to break for a month-long recess. If enacted, the bill would make it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon or a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
The legislation passed 217 to 213. Five House Democrats voted to oppose the legislation and only two Republican lawmakers joined the Democrats in voting for the bill: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Chris Jacobs. The bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate, where Democrats would need at least 10 Republican votes to overcome the filibuster. After leading bipartisan gun safety talks last month, Texas Senator John Cornyn said there would be no more gun negotiations after Congress passed a modest gun measure earlier this summer.
