US House of Representatives on Friday passed a bill to ban assault-style weapons, marking the first time lawmakers approving a prohibition on the popular firearms in more than two decades.
The bill passed in a largely party-line vote of 217-213, with two Republicans voting for the measure and five Democrats opposing it, the Hill reported.
Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Kurt Schrader of Oregon voted against the ban.
Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York voted for the bill.
Though the bill received bipartisan support in the House, the legislation has little chance of progressing in the Senate because of widespread Republican opposition, many Democrats in the House cited the recent mass shootings involving such firearms as a pressing reason to outlaw them.
On Friday morning, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would take up the legislation that afternoon, scheduling the last-minute vote days after she said the chamber would put consideration of the legislation to next month, the Hill reported.
“Today, our Democratic Majority will take up and pass the Assault Weapons Ban legislation: a crucial step in our ongoing fight against the deadly epidemic of gun violence in our nation,” Pelosi said in a letter to members of her party ahead of the vote.