House to vote on measure to keep guns from terrorists: source

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told Republican lawmakers on a conference call that the House will vote next week on a measure intended to keep guns out of the hands of people on terrorism watch lists, according to a knowledgeable source.

House Republican leadership refused to provide details of the legislation, which Ryan said would be part of a larger terrorism package. A Democratic aide speculated that the measure could be a House version of a Senate Republican measure backed by the National Rifle Association.
But the aide, a spokeswoman for House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, said Democrats had not been briefed on Ryan's plans.

The announcement came a week after Democrats staged an unprecedented House sit-in to protest the Republican-controlled chamber's lack of movement on guns in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, which killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12.

Ryan told the lawmakers that it is important to make sure suspected terrorists cannot acquire guns, calling it "just common sense," according to a source who was on the call.

In a reference to last week's sit-in, which infuriated Republicans, Ryan said Democrats were desperate to change the narrative from terrorism to guns because of their record on terrorism.

(C)Reuters