House poised to pass ban on assault-style rifles

Following up on a bipartisan gun bill passed by Congress last month, Democrats are planning on going at it alone on a bill that would ban certain kinds of assault-style weapons.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members a vote will be held on Friday. While the bill can pass the House with only Democratic votes, it would need at least 10 Republican votes in the Senate, making the likelihood of such a ban going into law highly unlikely.

“Today, our Democratic Majority will take up and pass the assault weapons ban legislation: a crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation,” Pelosi said in a letter to colleagues. “In order to succeed in passing the assault weapons ban, we must first pass same-day authority so that we can pass the rule enabling us to bring up the assault weapons ban.”

Such a ban was in place from 1994-2004 after lawmakers voted bipartisanly to limit access to such weapons. Under a Republican Congress, the ban was allowed to expire.

Democrats have blamed lax gun laws for the rising number of mass shootings in the US this year.

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