The House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to ban assault weapons on Friday, with five Democrats and two Republicans going against their respective parties in voting for the measure.
The legislation, called the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, passed by a 217-213 vote. One Republican did not vote.
Five Democrats opposed the bill, despite the fact that banning assault weapons has been a top priority for the party as the year approaches midterm elections.
Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), Jared Golden (D-Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) all voted no.
On the Republican side, leadership recommended that conference members vote against the bill, according to a congressional GOP aide. That insistence, however, did not stop Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Chris Jacobs (RN.Y.) from supporting the legislation.
Cuellar and Golden’s votes against the measure were no surprise.
Golden voted against the bill’s rule on Friday, a signal that he opposes the legislation. He has also opposed a number of firearms-related bills in the past, including a measure to nationalize red flag laws, a bipartisan gun safety bill that passed the Senate and was signed into law, and a firearms package that , among other measures, would have raised the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21.
Cuellar signaled last month that he would not vote for the bill, saying, “I don’t believe in gun bans.”
“Do I believe in certain limitations? yes But banning guns? No,” he added.
Gonzalez also voted against the assault weapons rule on Friday, a signal that he is likely to oppose the measure when it comes up for a final vote.
In a statement Friday night, the Texas Democrat said banning certain models of assault weapons “will do nothing to reduce the overall risks,” noting the millions of assault rifles already in circulation in the U.S.
“Our focus should be on keeping guns out of the hands of people who pose a danger to themselves or others,” he said.
The congressman urged the Senate to consider gun-related legislation the House previously passed, including measures to ban civilian use of high-capacity magazines and strengthen background checks.
Schrader was the third Democrat to vote against the rule on Friday, and he has expressed reservations about assault weapons bans before.
He suggested to Politico last week that the bill was on a “death wish list” for Democrats, pointing to the Republican victory in the 1994 midterm elections after then-President Clinton signed a ban on assault weapons.
“This is a bill that destroyed the Democrats in ’94. I mean, do we really have a death wish list as Democrats?” Schrader said.
The Oregon Democrat also said he is concerned about the assault weapons ban because he believes it would undermine the bipartisan package that Congress approved and Biden signed into law last month.
“It undermines what we’ve already done and reiterates to all people in America who aren’t hardcore urban Democrats that our party is out of touch,” he told the publication.
It was unclear how Kind would vote on the assault weapons ban before it was brought to the floor. The congressman previously voted against two provisions in the gun package the House passed last month — one that would ban civilians from using high-capacity magazines and one that would strengthen the safe storage of guns in homes where minors have access to the weapons.
The Hill reached out to the five Democrats for comment on their votes.
In a statement after Friday’s vote, Jacobs said that while he supports the Second Amendment and the right to self-defense, he does not support “easy access to high-powered semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines that time and time again lead to mass-casualty shootings.”
He referenced the May mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 black men were killed at a grocery store, writing that the guns banned in the bill “have been proven to rapidly cause massive damage.”
“We have a duty to keep all Americans safe. These weapons do not belong in our communities. Although this bill is not perfect, I believe it will save innocent lives,” he said.
Jacobs’ vote comes as no surprise. The New York Democrat announced in May that he would support a ban on assault weapons, sparking outrage in his party. One week later, the congressman said he would not seek a second term in the House.
During Friday’s vote, Jacobs said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) approached him in the speaker’s lobby to point out how close the final result would be. Asked by The Hill if management was trying to convince him to change his vote, Jacobs said “it wasn’t like a tough, tough regime, they were just pointing out how close it was.”
Fitzpatrick told The Hill on Friday night that he ultimately decided to vote for the assault weapons ban after thinking about a family in Parkland, Fla., who suffered loss after the 2018 Marjory High School shooting. Stoneman Douglas.
If the two Republicans had voted with their party in the final vote, they might have tied the vote 215-215, preventing Democrats from reaching the 216-vote threshold they needed to pass the bill. One Republican did not vote.
Fitzpatrick told The Hill that McCarthy and House Minority Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) did not address him during the vote.
“They know I do my own thing,” he said. “I developed that reputation.”
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Emily Brooks contributed.
– Updated at 10:56 p.m
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