A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a law that tightens the rules for purchasing firearms. For example, in the new package of measures, the minimum age for purchasing firearms will be raised from 18 to 21 years. Also, according to the law, warehouses are only allowed to contain 15 cartridges.
There is a very slim chance that the bill will pass the Senate. Republicans are expected to block new gun laws by using the filibuster. This tactic, which has been used in American politics for years, involves politicians buying time by speaking for hours so that bills never go to the vote. In this way, laws can be stopped that are actually supported by a majority. The filibuster can be swept aside if 60 out of 100 senators are in favour, but with the current division of the Senate – 50 Republican seats versus 48 Democratic – that won’t happen.
The mood in the house came two weeks after an 18-year-old boy murdered 19 children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas. President Joe Biden called for tougher gun laws in a live television speech a week after the Uvalde shooting. He argued for stricter controls on people who want to buy a weapon and a ban on (semi-)automatic weapons. “If we can’t ban assault rifles, then we should at least raise the minimum age to buy them from 18 to 21,” Biden said in his speech. He called Republican Senators blocking tougher gun laws “unscrupulous.”
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