Democrats Say ‘Assault Weapons Ban’ Likely Doesn’t Have Enough Votes to Pass Senate
After a fresh round of violence and mass shootings in America, President Joe Biden and Democrats once again called for a nationwide ban on “assault weapons.”
The calls for the ban increased after a manager at a Chesapeake, Virginia, Wal-Mart shot and killed six co-workers before taking his own life on Tuesday. The youngest of the victims, a 16-year-old boy.
The assault at the Walmart came days after a person opened fire at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five people and wounding 17.
On Thursday, Biden told reporters, “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick.”
On Sunday, Democrats said that a gun control bill that would ban “assault weapons” likely does not have enough votes to make it to President Joe Biden’s desk.
“I’m glad that President Biden is going to be pushing us to take a vote on an assault weapons ban. The House has already passed it. It’s sitting in front of the Senate. Does it have 60 votes in the Senate right now? Probably not,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I don’t know how you get 60 votes in the Senate,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
In July, the House passed H.R. 1808, also known as the Assault Weapons Ban. The law would prohibit the sale, manufacture, and possession of all semiautomatic guns.
Without removing the filibuster, Democrats would have to have 60 votes in the Senate to get the bill to the President’s desk.
