Congress passes largest gun safety bill in decades, leaving NC Republicans divided
Cheers rang out from the House floor Friday as the largest piece of gun legislation in three decades passed Congress.
North Carolina lawmakers were largely divided on the bill that U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis helped craft and Sen. Richard Burr championed.
House Democrats passed the bill with 14 Republicans in a 234-193 vote.
None of North Carolina’s House Republicans voted for the bill. All of North Carolina’s Democrats did.
“Today, after nearly three decades of inaction on gun safety, of empty thoughts and prayers and hollow promises, we are making progress to prevent senseless gun violence,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from Wake County. “The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will not bring back the countless lives lost and communities torn apart by gun violence, but it will help Americans stay safe — whether they are at school, at the grocery store, at a house of worship or anywhere else.”
Tillis worked with Sens. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Arizona and John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, to create the bill that expands access to mental health care and broadens gun safety laws after a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, left 19 children and two adults dead at an elementary school.
Opponents cite Second Amendment
The bill has been opposed by people who fear it would weaken their Second Amendment Rights and that incentives offered to states to pass red flag laws and closing a loophole that prevented unmarried domestic abusers from accessing guns wouldn’t allow for due process.
Tillis has emphasized that the bill does none of that.
But protesters gathered outside Tillis’ Raleigh office Friday morning, some dressed in yellow and black masks, the colors of the Proud Boys, a far-right, white supremacist group tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson led the Republican opposition to the bill on the House floor Friday.
“Our highest calling as members of Congress is to defend the Constitution,” Hudson said. “And that is where this legislation sent to us by the Senate falls short.”
Rep. Ted Budd, a Republican from Rural Hall running to replace Burr in the U.S. Senate, owns a gun store and shooting range. He said there were worthy provisions in the bill that he supported, but said amendments were needed to ensure due process safeguards were in place. He said House Democrats rejected those amendments.
“I will not support this legislation because I am concerned that it will have the unintended effect of infringing on the due process rights of law-abiding citizens,” Budd said.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Republican from Denver, said some of the provisions in the bill were noble, like expanding access to mental health care. Others he called redundant of legislation already passed in the House. But he said the right to keep and bear arms is a foundation principle for the United States.
“During my time in public service, I have always maintained that I will never vote to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” McHenry said. “Significant portions of the bill I voted against today have the potential to do just that.”
Majority support
Democrats disagreed.
Rep. David Price, of Chapel Hill, was married to Lisa Price, the co-founder of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. She died Thursday after a battle with cancer.
On Friday afternoon, Price sent a message to the House floor by proxy, saying he was voting yes on the bill in honor of his wife.
Rep. Alma Adams, a Charlotte Democrat, said on Twitter that she is a domestic violence survivor who would vote yes to the bill to “save lives.”
Rep. Kathy Manning, a Greensboro Democrat, said one bill won’t eradicate gun violence, but it’s an important first step.
“To take advantage of these resources, North Carolina must pass red flag laws to protect Americans from dangerous people who may be a threat to themselves or others,” Manning said. “Now more than ever, we must enact commonsense solutions to ending gun violence in our communities.”
With the bill having passed both chambers it now goes to President Joe Biden who is expected to quickly sign it into law.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Congress passes largest gun safety bill in decades, leaving NC Republicans divided."
