A memorial for the children and adults killed during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The House Judiciary Committee is calling an emergency hearing this week to consider a package of gun control bills, including one that would increase the legal purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
Driving the news: The panel on Thursday morning will review an omnibus package made up of eight bills that Democrats are calling the "Protecting Our Kids Act."
- In addition to increasing the purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles, the package would ban the import, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of large-capacity magazines.
- The package also includes a bill that would establish requirements to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises and create criminal penalties for violations.
The big picture: Mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, have pushed lawmakers to pursue new gun control legislation.
- The emergency meeting was called even though the House is out of session this week.
What to watch: House Democrats plan to bring the bills to the floor for a vote early next week, per Punchbowl News, which first reported on the omnibus package.
- Even if the package passed the House, it would still require 60 votes to break a filibuster in the Senate.
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