Democrats will insist on new gun controls as part of their push to renew the Violence Against Women Act, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.
She also brushed aside threats that the National Rifle Association would work against the legislation.
“I don’t see that it has much impact on the passage of the bill,” Mrs. Pelosi told reporters.
The California Democrat allowed the law to expire in February, in what appears to be an effort to create pressure to pass an update that includes the new gun controls.
The old law denied firearms to someone accused of abuse to a partner in a marriage, divorce or cohabitation. Mrs. Pelosi and fellow Democrats want to expand that to include people in dating relationships or convicted of stalking misdemeanors.
Democrats’ bill will come to the House floor for a vote next week, where it will likely pass. However, House Republicans say it’s unlikely this version will survive in the Senate.
The Violence Against Women Act first passed in 1994 and instituted a federal framework and funding for a host of programs dedicated to helping victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and other crimes against women. Among other programs, it led to the creation of the National Domestic Abuse Hotline.
It was last reauthorized in 2013 and extended tribal court powers in crimes involving American Indian women and explicitly affirmed that same-sex relationships and transgender women are covered.
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