The House passed the most sweeping legislation designed to prevent gun violence in nearly 30 years on Friday, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
The bill passed the House 234-193 Friday afternoon, with 14 Republicans voting with all Democrats to support it. Members who supported the bill cheered and applauded in the chamber as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that it had passed.
The bipartisan gun legislation, written in response to the shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, flew through a usually slow-moving Congress. After the bill passed the Senate Thursday night, 65-33, Pelosi applauded the “strong bipartisan vote” and said the House would immediately vote on the bill before lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess marking July Fourth.
“Every day, gun violence steals lives and scars communities — and this crisis demands urgent action,” she said in a statement. “While we must do more, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is a step forward that will help protect our children and save lives.”
The bill would provide grants to states for “red flag” laws, enhance background checks to include juvenile records, and close the “boyfriend loophole” by keeping guns away from nonspouse dating partners convicted of abuse.
Although a majority of House Republicans voted no Friday, just over a dozen moderate members broke with their party to support the legislation.
