Well, from one disappointment, to one success. Such is the roller coaster nature of the General Assembly. Speaker Schwartzkopf’s HB330(S), a bill that will raise the legal age where it is permissible for a person to buy, sell, give or transfer a firearm or ammunition from 18 years old to 21, passed the House 24-16, with 1 absent. One Democrat voted no, obviously pro-NRA Bill Carson. And one Republican running for reelection in a competitive district in a Democratic wave year voted yes, and that person is Mike Ramone.
Onto the Senate, where hopefully Bruce Ennis can resist lowering the age to 10 just to be fair.
HB330 – Raising Gun Purchase Age to 21.
SPONSORS: Schwartzkopf, McBridge, McDowell, Longhurst, Potter, Hansen, Henry, Marshall, Sokola, Townsend, Baumbach, Bentz, Bolden, Brady, Heffernan, Jaques, J.Johnson, Kowalko, Lynn, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Paradee, B.Short, Viola
YES VOTES: Baumbach, Bennett, Bentz, Bolden, Brady, Heffernan, J.Johnson, Jaques, K.Williams, Keeley, Kowalko, Longhurst, Lynn, M.Smith, Matthews, Mitchell, Mulrooney, Osienski, Paradee, Potter, Q.Johnson, Ramone, Schwartzkopf, Viola
NO VOTES: Briggs King, Carson, Collins, D.Short, Dukes, Gray, Hensley, Hudson, Kenton, Miro, Outten, Postles, Smyk, Spiegelman, Wilson, Yearick
ABSENT: B.Short
NOT VOTING:
HISTORY: Passed House 24-16.
STATUS: Onto the Senate
It is a sincere, profound disappointment to see how many Republicans have chosen to vote on a purely partisan basis. And many of them are strong supporters of children and public schools … locations where so many gun violence-related tragedies continue to occur.
They are certainly not supporters of children and public schools, the Republican never met a charter school they didn’t love in pursuit of destroying the teachers union. As for children they’d cancel SNAP and many other programs that benefit kids tomorrow if they could get away with it. You give them far too much credit
I know and have worked with many of these people. They have to live with these votes. Not me. Not you.