NC lawmakers divided as House passes semiautomatic weapon ban before August recess

The U.S. House narrowly passed a semi-automatic weapons ban bill Friday afternoon before leaving for what’s expected to be a 45-day recess.

Cheers went up from the House floor as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the bill’s passage with 217-213 votes.

The ban on what critics describe as assault weapons was introduced in 2021 by Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island, and was co-sponsored by all five of North Carolina’s Democrats in the U.S. House.

“Many of my constituents are responsible, law-abiding gun owners,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat representing Wake County. “Contrary to what opponents of this legislation continue to claim, this bill will allow current law-abiding gun owners to keep all of their guns. It simply prevents future sales of assault rifles.”

North Carolina’s Republicans voted against the bill’s passage.

“Once again, my colleagues across the aisle have rushed to exploit your fear and the pain of victims to rush out a gun control measure that will do nothing to save lives or address the root cause of violence,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, who represents the southern Piedmont and lives in Moore County. “The simple truth is criminals don’t follow the law. If they did, think about this: if criminals follow the law, we wouldn’t have any crime. But when you criminalize guns, only criminals are going to have guns.”

A poll by Quinnipiac University released last week shows 49% of Americans support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons, while 45% oppose it.

“Let’s be clear,” Ross said. “Assault weapons are designed to kill as many people as possibly as quickly as possible. They’re not designed for recreation. They’re designed for combat.”

WHAT THE HOUSE BILL WOULD DO

The Senate likely won’t support the House’s bill. Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, was integral in creating a gun reform law last month following several mass shootings, including one at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

While there was a call for banning 18- to 21-year-olds from purchasing or owning semi-automatic weapons, Tillis said that topic was never on the table.

The House’s bill would make it criminal to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess a semi-automatic assault weapon or large-capacity ammunition feeding device. But that does not apply to the sale, possession or transfer of guns legally possessed before the bill becomes law.

And the bill has more exemptions: The ban does not apply to firearms manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action or those that are permanently inoperable, an antique or a rifle or shotgun specifically identified by make and model. The bill does not ban importation, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, authorized tests or experiments or related to securing nuclear materials. It also exempts possession by a retired law enforcement officer.

It gives state and local governments access to money from a program meant to compensate a person who surrenders their banned weapons.