House passes gun reform package after Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings

Bill has virtually no chance of passing US Senate

(Getty Images)

The House has passed a gun reform package in response to the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings, as discussions in the Senate continue to try and find bipartisan agreement.

The “Protecting Our Kids Act” legislation passed along largely party lines 223 to 204, with five Republicans joining all but two Democrats in voting for it.

It is a sweeping collection of laws that would raise the age limit for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, ban high-capacity magazines, tighten regulation of “ghost guns” and bump stocks, and introduce firearm storage safety requirements.

The law has almost no chance of passing through the 50-50 Senate, where a small group of bipartisan negotiators are trying to make progress on legislation that could pass the upper house.

“It was an assault on the culture of our country that our children would not be able to go to school without fear or concern about their safety,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House floor.

“Our children are, as President Kennedy said, our greatest resource and our best hope for the future. They are our precious treasure, and everything we do is for the children, and for the children we must stop this gun violence in our country and restore their confidence in their safety wherever they may be. So we’re on a crusade for the children and sadly now, by the children.”

House Republican leaders pushed back on the bill before the vote, with Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, saying that “there wasn’t a conversation about banning airplanes,” after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In Uvalde, a teenage gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers with an AR-15, while in Buffalo 10 people in a largely Black neighbourhood were killed in what officials say was a racially-motivated hate crime.

The passing of the bill came the day after Matthew McConaughey gave a powerful speech about gun control from the White House briefing room, in which he showed off artwork done by the young victims in his hometown of Uvalde.