Why Rep. Ben Cline voted against gun control legislation

(WSET) — A gun control bill passed the House on Wednesday, with five Republicans voting in favor, but Congressman Ben Cline wasn't one of them. He was one of 202 Republicans who voted against the bill.

The bill would raise the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old and ban large-capacity magazines. The bill passed with a vote of 223 to 204.

Congressman Cline said the tragedy in Uvalde definitely necessitates action, but feels this bill and another red flag law bill that passed in the House on Thursday, aren't the way to go.

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"I think there are many things that we can do to provide protection for kids in schools and make sure that their schools are protected structurally from intruders," Cline said. "But the bill that was passed yesterday, and then the second red flag law bill that was passed today would have taken Second Amendment rights away from law-abiding Americans and turned our system of due process on its head."

Cline said the bill that was passed on Wednesday would restrict the Second Amendment rights of younger Americans by prohibiting 18 to 20-year-olds from buying certain weapons and make it harder for a domestic violence victim to keep a firearm for defense by how it would impact the storage of weapons.

He also said it would make it harder to access a firearm in an emergency, and that the limits on magazine capacities would essentially ban many common firearms that use between 15 and 30 rounds of ammunition.

Though it passed the house, Cline said he doesn't see this bill passing in the senate or becoming law.

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"This is an effort by Democrats to simply make political points and all of the discussions that are going on in the Senate are more likely to receive consideration in the house than vice versa," Cline said.

Cline said there are many ways we can improve the safety of kids in school. He said he's supported putting school resource officers in every school. He also said he supports other measures that make schools tougher targets for shooters.

"Making sure that when recommendations are made structurally for how to best construct schools, that are protected, that those rules are followed and that the funding is available to make sure that if you have a single entrance, that that entrance, is not compromised, by doors propped open on the other side of a building," Cline said.