The House voted on Wednesday, 231-198, to loosen federal regulations so gun owners with concealed-carry permits could legally travel with their weapons to other states.
The National Rifle Association pushed hard for the bill, which passed with six Democrats supporting it and 14 Republicans opposed. The bill's author, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), compared concealed-carry permits to marriage and drivers' licenses, while Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) — who represents Newtown, where 26 children and teachers were gunned down inside Sandy Hook Elementary School — called his bill "an outrage and an insult to the families" of people killed by gun violence.
The bill was combined with two measures that have bipartisan support — one that would have the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over six months, study crimes involving firearms to see how many involve bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at nearly the same rate as an automatic weapon; and another that would strengthen the National Criminal Instant Background Check system. The vote was the first time since the massacre at Sandy Hook that the House took up any major gun legislation.
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