The measure is not expected to pass the Senate, however, amid widespread GOP opposition to stricter gun controls. A bipartisan group of senators are engaging in talks to try to find common ground on gun policy, but it’s still unclear what, if anything, will result from the effort.

Legislation passed in the House includes a series of individual bills aimed at preventing gun violence. The measure would raise the legal age to purchase certain centerfire semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, establish new federal offenses for weapons trafficking and for the sale of large-capacity magazines, and allow local governments to ‘compensate the people who give these magazines back through a buyback program. . This would create a tax incentive for retail sales of safe storage devices and criminal penalties for failure to comply with new requirements governing the storage of firearms on residential premises. The measure would also take steps to strengthen existing federal regulations on bump stocks and ghost guns.

Pelosi had requested in a letter to Dear Colleague that his fellow Democrats be present in the chamber during the floor debate, but only about a quarter of the caucus was present when the debate began.

House Republicans have spoken out against the legislation, describing the package as a trampling on Americans’ rights.

“Here they come – attacking the Second Amendment freedoms of law-abiding citizens,” Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said. “The speaker started off by saying that this bill is about protecting our children. It’s important. … That’s what she said, ‘protecting our children is important.’ Yes, it is. But this bill does not. What this bill does is take away Second Amendment rights, the God-given rights protected by our Constitution from respectful American citizens. laws. That’s what this legislation does, and that’s why we should oppose it.”

Before the debate, the House took a procedural vote which also considered adopted a resolution by Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York condemning the mass shooting in Buffalo and resolving that “the theory of the great replacement as a theory of white supremacist conspiracy, and reaffirming the House of Representatives’ commitment to combating white supremacy, hate and racial injustice.” Its resolution also called on “many people in positions of power and media institutions with widely consulted public platforms” who have helped normalize and legitimize the principles underlying the Great Replacement Theory.

When asked why he didn’t insist on a separate vote on his resolution, Bowman said “the main thing for us is that the resolution passes, however it comes in.”

“This is something that’s really important for Congress to take a stand,” he said.