Historic gun-control bill passes the lower house of congress but faces uphill battle

Politicians in Washington are pleading for compromise after “historic” gun reform bill faces uphill battle in the Senate.

Congressional Senators are gearing up for a historic debate after a bill containing the most wide-ranging gun control laws in recent US history passed the lower house on Wednesday.

However, hopes are low that the legislation will be signed into law, with the largely anti gun-control Republican party holding a majority in the congressional upper house.

The bill in question raises the age limit for purchasing a semiautomatic rifle to 21 years of age and applies similar restrictions to the sale of ammunition magazines with a capacity exceeding 15 rounds.

It also includes incentives to increase gun-storage safety with citizens eligible for heavy fines and even jailed time of up to five years if a gun that isn’t properly stored is then used by a minor to injure or kill either themselves or others.

The ‘Moms Demand Action’ rally protesting firearm access, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Picture: Stefani Reynolds/AFP

The proposed laws come in the wake a particularly devastating series of gun massacres in the country, with the suspected shooters of both the Uvalde school in Texas and the Buffalo supermarket killings in New York each just 18 years of age.

The legislation passed the lower house with a mostly party-line vote of 223-204, and while experts don’t expect it to be signed into law, a crossbench meeting of Republican and Democrat senators on Wednesday evening raised hopes that small steps may be taken at the top level to curb the ongoing violence.

A house bitterly divided

Ten Republicans are needed to support the new bill if it’s to stand any chance of being signed into law – something which experts believe is all but impossible.

Instead, Senators are expected to pursue a package that would boost funding for mental health services and school security, narrowly expand background checks, and incentivise states to institute so-called “red flag laws” enabling authorities to confiscate weapons from individuals considered a threat.

Crucially, the package does not include an assault weapons ban or universal background checks, meaning it will fall short of the expectations of President Joe Biden, progressive Democrats, and anti-gun violence activists.

Gun rights activists, including the group Youth Over Guns, participate in a rally in Foley Square to demand an end to gun violence in New York City. Picture: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images/AFP

But even this compromise deal has to run the gauntlet of an evenly divided Senate and earn the votes of at least 10 Republicans, most of whom are against significant regulatory reform.

The debate has also opened the floodgates for congressional representatives seeking re-election in November midterm elections to lay out their platform to voters.

“This (bill) is unconstitutional and it's immoral,” said Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.

“We‘re telling 18, 19 and 20-year-olds to register for the draft … that they can go die for (their) country.

“We expect you to defend us, but we're not going to give you the tools to defend yourself and your family.”

Republican Representative Jim Jordan also spoke out against any reform, telling the lower house that “the answer is not to destroy the Second Amendment … that is exactly where the Democrats want to go”.

Meanwhile, Texan Democrat Veronica Escobar urged citizens to “take note of who is with you and who is not“.

“We can't save every life, but my God, shouldn’t we try?” she said.

Citizens ‘live in constant fear’

At the time of writing 18,984 people have died as a result of guns in the US in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Of those, 10,494 died in unsuspicious circumstances and 8490 were killed as a result of either homicide or misuse.

There have been 251 mass shootings since January (defined by The Congressional Research Service as multiple, firearm, homicide incidents, involving 4 or more victims at one or more locations close to one another) in which 718 children under the age of 18 have been killed.

Graph showing gun deaths by area since the start of 2022. Picture: Gun Violence Archive

While the statistics are damning, recent gun massacres have seemingly shocked congress into previously unprecedented action.

Survivors of last months Robb Elementary School rampage gave harrowing testimonies on the floor of congress recently, with fourth-grader Miah Cerrillo telling politicians that she smeared herself with blood and played dead to avoid being shot by Salvador Ramos, who murdered 19 of her classmates and two teachers.

“He … told my teacher ‘goodnight’ and then shot her in the head. And then he shot some of my classmates and the whiteboard,” Miah said in a brief but gut-wrenching pre-recorded interview.

“When I went to the backpacks, he shot my friend who was next to me and I thought he was going to come back into the room so I grabbed a little blood and put it all over me.”

An activist poses with a sign in Florida after a devastating month of gun violence in the US. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

Victims of the recent Buffalo massacre also testified, a killing spree that saw 18-year-old Payton Gendron murder 10 Black people in a supermarket after posting a 180-page manifesto online, similar in vein to that of Christchurch mass-murderer Brenton Tarrant.

Authorities have since labelled the shootings a racial ‘hate crime’.

Garnell Whitfield Jr, the son of Buffalo massacre victim Ruth Whitfield, gave an emotional speech to the house and pleaded with politicians to reconsider their stance on gun ownership.

“You expect us to continue to forgive and forget over and over again? And what are you doing?,” he asked.

“You were elected to protect us and protect our way of life.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the problem facing the nation was “sickening” and urged Senators that the upcoming vote presented an opportunity to “make history by making progress”.