Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House Passes Tougher Gun Controls Following Spate Of Mass Shootings
AP: House Passes Gun Control Bill After Buffalo, Uvalde Attacks
The House passed a wide-ranging gun control bill Wednesday in response to recent mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle and prohibit the sale of ammunition magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The legislation passed by a mostly party-line vote of 223-204. It has almost no chance of becoming law as the Senate pursues negotiations focused on improving mental health programs, bolstering school security and enhancing background checks. But the House bill does allow Democratic lawmakers a chance to frame for voters in November where they stand on policies that polls show are widely supported. (Freking, 6/9)
The Washington Post: House Passes Tough New Gun Measures Hours After Wrenching Testimony
The 223-to-204 vote took place just hours after a House committee heard searing testimony from a young survivor of the May 24 shooting in Uvalde, Tex., as well as the parents of a victim and a pediatrician who responded to the tragedy that left 19 elementary-schoolers and two teachers dead. Five Republicans joined most Democrats in backing the legislation. Two Democrats voted no. “Somewhere out there, there is a mom listening to our testimony, thinking, ‘I can’t even imagine their pain,’ not knowing that our reality will one day be hers, unless we act now,” said Kimberly Rubio, the mother of 10-year-old Lexi Rubio, who was killed in the attack. (DeBonis, 6/8)
The Wall Street Journal: House Passes Democrats’ Gun Measures As Senate Talks Continue
The House gun bill, called the Protecting Our Kids Act, would raise the age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles and shotguns to 21 from 18. It also would require gun owners to store their guns so that minors can’t access them without permission, imposing as many as five years in prison if a child accesses an unsecured gun and kills or hurts someone. The bill would make it a federal crime to engage in straw purchases—the buying of a gun for someone else—or gun trafficking, which is the illegal trading of guns. It also would ban licensed dealers from selling guns with magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. And it would ban devices known as bump stocks, which make semiautomatic rifles shoot like rapid-fire machine guns, putting into law a regulatory ban. (Hughes, 6/8)
Who voted for the bill, and who didn't —
The Hill: Here Are The House Republicans Who Broke With The Party On Guns
A handful of House Republicans bucked their party to vote for gun legislation on Wednesday, supporting measures that were introduced after the mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde, Texas last month. (Schnell, 6/8)
The Hill: These Four Democrats Voted Against Parts Of The Gun Package
Four Democrats broke from the party and objected to aspects of a sweeping gun package the House passed on Wednesday, which was introduced in the aftermath of last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y. and Uvalde, Texas. (Schnell, 6/8)
On late-night TV, President Biden pushes for gun control —
Politico: Biden Urges Americans To Make Guns 'a Voting Issue'
President Joe Biden on Wednesday said gun safety policy must become “a voting issue” as Americans head to the polls for midterms. “You’ve got to make sure that this becomes a voting issue,” the president said on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in his second appearance on a late-night show in his presidency and his first in person. “It’s got to be one of those issues where you decide your position on the issue of senator or candidate for House or Senate, on what we’re going to do with assault weapons … what you say on those things is going to determine how I vote for you. It should be one of those issues.” (Ward, 6/9)
Reuters: Biden Says Republicans Bullied By Gun Lobby During Late-Night Show Visit
U.S President Joe Biden on Wednesday blamed the lack of any progress on gun safety on intimidation by the gun lobby, and he called on voters to make it a deciding issue come November during his first in-person appearance on a late-night talk show. Biden told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that the National Rifle Association has bullied Republicans into thinking that “if they vote for rational gun policy, they’re going to be primaried.” (Hunnicutt and Renshaw, 6/9)
