The House on Friday passed a bill to ban assault weapons, securing a significant victory for Democrats following a spate of mass shootings across the country and marking the first time lawmakers have approved a prohibition on the popular firearms in more than two decades.

The legislation, titled the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022, cleared the chamber in a 217-213 vote.

Republican Reps. Chris Jacobs (N.Y.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) supported the measure, while Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Kurt Schrader (Ore.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) voted “no.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday morning that the House would take up the legislation that afternoon, scheduling the last-minute vote days after she said the chamber would punt consideration of the legislation to next month.

Democrats had planned to move the assault weapons ban with community safety legislation under one rule, but ultimately decided to consider them separately after some

liberals voiced concerns about a lack of accountability in the police measures.

The assault weapons ban legislation, led by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and co-sponsored by 207 voting […]