U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) | Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) | Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
State House members in Atlanta have passed legislation to revive a ban on semi-automatic guns—the first vote of its kind in years and a direct response to the firearms often used in the barrage of mass shootings sweeping the nation.
While the Biden administration claims mass shootings tripled when the 10-year ban expired in 2004, Republican members of the House maintained their stance that limitations on ownership of high-powered firearms should not be passed.
"An armed America is a safe and free America,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) told FOX 5 Atlanta.
This comes as semi-automatic weapons have recently come to the center of the debate and are now widely blamed as the weapon of choice among those responsible for many of the country’s most devastating mass shootings.
The House legislation is shunned by Republicans, who dismissed it as an election-year strategy by Democrats; the report said. Almost all Republicans voted against the bill, which passed 217-213 and will likely stall in the 50-50 Senate.
The bill would make it unlawful to import, sell or manufacture a long list of semi-automatic weapons, though Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) told FOX 5 Atlanta it exempts those already in possession.
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