The US House of Representatives voted in the first reading on Friday to ban assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons that have been used in numerous shootings in the United States. The text, approved by Democratic President Joe Biden, was passed in the House by a vote of 217 to 213, but it looks set to fail in the Senate.

Senate majority rules require 10 Republicans and their 50 Democrats to vote to ban assault rifles. But such a possibility is unlikely, because the partisan divisions are numerous in terms of weapons. Only two Republican lawmakers joined the Democrats in passing the text.

However, in 1994, Congress succeeded in passing legislation banning assault rifles and some high-capacity magazines for ten years. It expired in 2004 and since then sales of these weapons, advertised as “sporting rifles” by manufacturers, have skyrocketed.