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WASHINGTON – The House passed the first of a pair of gun control bills, a priority for impatient Democratic leaders after years of little success on the issue amid broad Republican opposition.
The vote was 227 to 203 on a move to extend background checks to almost all gun sales. Eight Republicans backed the bill, while one Democrat opposed it.
The House separately prepared to vote on extending the background check window to 10 days from three days, giving law enforcement more time to screen people before they can buy firearms.
Both gun measures were passed by the House in 2019, after Democrats regained control of the chamber in the midterm election, but languished in the Senate when the then majority leader , Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) Refused to schedule votes.
Prospects for legislation in the now Democratic-controlled Senate are uncertain, but the effort could give more impetus to the party’s efforts to change the rules in the tightly divided chamber to make it easier to pass bills.
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