Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler announced Friday that his committee will cut short the summer vacation and come back early next month to vote on gun control bills.
The bills would ban large-capacity ammunition magazines, allow courts to issue “extreme risk protection orders” to restrict certain individuals from possessing a firearm and prohibit individuals convicted of a hate crime from purchasing a gun.
The committee will take them up on Sept. 4 — cutting about a week out of members’ planned six-week summer vacation.
Mr. Nadler also announced the committee will also hold a hearing on “military-style assault weapons” on Sept. 25.
“For far too long, politicians in Washington have only offered thoughts and prayers in the wake of gun violence tragedies,” Mr. Nadler said in a statement. “Thoughts and prayers have never been enough. We must act.”
His moves are an attempt to maintain momentum for gun controls in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, earlier this month.
Democrats are also demanding the Senate return early to debate a bill to expand background checks to cover more transactions. That legislation cleared the House in February on a near-party line vote but hasn’t made any progress in the Republican-held Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has signaled he is not likely to recall his chamber early. Instead, he’s tasked three committee chairs to work on finding bipartisan solutions.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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