U.S. House passes gun-safety legislation, sends to Biden

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed significant gun-safety legislation for the first time in three decades, sending it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law. The House voted 234-193 for the bill, one day after a Supreme Court ruling broadly expanded gun rights.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed significant gun-safety legislation for the first time in three decades, sending it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law. The House voted 234-193 for the bill, one day after a Supreme Court ruling broadly expanded gun rights. No Democrats were opposed, while 14 Republicans backed the measure, a rare defeat for U.S. gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association.

House action followed a late Thursday Senate vote of 65-33 to pass the bill, with 15 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in favor. Gun control has long been a divisive issue in the United States with multiple attempts to place new controls on gun sales failing time after time until Friday.

Passage of what some Democrats characterized as a modest, first-step bill followed mass murders last month at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.