The House of Representatives took up and passed the so-called "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act" on Friday by a vote of 234-193 after Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate compromised on Americans' Second Amendment freedoms behind closed doors and rushed the text through the upper chamber earlier this week.
1) The House of Representatives has aligned with the Senate and approved the bipartisan Senate firearms bill. This is the first major piece of gun legislation to move through Congress since the Brady Bill in November, 1993.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 24, 2022
The vote was 234-193.
There were no Democratic nays.
Despite the bill having the votes necessary to pass without Republican support, 14 Republicans joined their gun-grabbing allies across the aisle in voting for the legislation — another middle finger from some congressional Republicans to their constituents and law-abiding gun owners.
2) There were 14 GOP yeas.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 24, 2022
That is significant, considering there were 15 Republican yeas last night in the Senate. Republicans hoped to have fewer GOP yeas in the House than in the Senate.
The Republicans, including the usual suspects, voting with Democrats to pass the bill were:
- Liz Cheney of Wyoming
- Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
- Peter Meijer of Michigan
- Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
- Tom Rice of South Carolina
- John Katko of New York
- David Joyce of Ohio
- Chris Jacobs of New York
- Steve Chabot of Ohio
- Maria Salazar of Florida
- Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
- Fred Upton of Michigan
- Mike Turner of Ohio
- Tony Gonzalez of Texas
Beyond defying opposition from the Americans they represent, those 14 Republicans also defied the House's GOP leadership.
House GOP Whip Steve Scalise (LA) — himself a target of gun violence when a Bernie Sanders supporter with a hit list shot up a Republican baseball practice in the D.C. suburbs — along with GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) told their members they opposed the bill earlier this week. Separately, McCarthy said that he would "oppose the Senate bill because provisions in it would place additional unnecessary impediments and burdens on law-abiding citizens' right to own a firearm." He also warned against "knee-jerk reactions in how the federal government approaches red flag laws, where Congress strong-arms states into passing laws that may violate the Second Amendment and deprive citizens their right to due process."
Many other conservatives in the House spoke out against the legislation ahead of Friday's vote, including Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina:
Today the House will consider gun control legislation passed by the Senate.
— Richard Hudson (@RepRichHudson) June 24, 2022
I’m glad mental health & school safety provisions from my STOP II Act were included. But this bill falls short by threatening #2a rights in several ways, including red flag laws.https://t.co/BmPPzWcYOu pic.twitter.com/y9iaTP86le
But, as happened in the Senate that allowed the bill to have any chance of making it to President Biden's desk where it heads now, Republicans partnered with those who insist the GOP is an evil party to reach a "compromise" that only angers conservatives.