House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a crowd Wednesday in her hometown of San Francisco that the lower chamber will propose legislation banning so-called assault weapons in the coming weeks, The Hill reported.
Speaking at an event regarding gun violence prevention, Pelosi, D-Calif., said a bill tackling certain types of rifles would come after the House considers red flag laws — measures designed to keep weapons from potentially violent people.
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee is also preparing to field a slate of anti-gun bills. Among them are proposals to prohibit high-capacity magazines and raise the minimum purchasing age for certain rifles.
''And then, as we get through those, we will be having a hearing and marking up the assault weapon ban,'' the Democratic leader said. ''So, we just are trying to hit it every possible way.''
The news comes amid a flurry of gun control pushes following the mass shooting last week at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Ten days before the attack, another shooting in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket left 10 dead.
Since then, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced legislation aimed to ''freeze'' the ability to ''buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere'' in his country.
Duke University law professor Joseph Blocher told Newsweek on Tuesday that a ban as extensive as Canada's in the U.S. would be unlikely under the confines of the Second Amendment.
''The Supreme Court has been clear that the Second Amendment protects the fundamental right to have a handgun in the home for self-defense,'' Blocher told the outlet. ''So, even if handgun prohibition were politically feasible, the courts will strike it down.''
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