House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Thursday invoked the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) to criticize the SHARE Act that passed out of committee this month.
The legislation introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.) deregulates silencers, furthers protections for interstate firearm transport, furthers protections on classification measures for certain firearms and ammunition, and increases access to federal public lands for hunting and fishing, among other measures.
The bill would treat silencers as common firearms and require background checks in order to buy one from a licensed gun dealer, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
Pelosi called the legislation "very dangerous" and said it was pushed under the facade of being for hunters.
"We all understand that the Second Amendment exists. We respect the rights of people to have gun ownership," Pelosi said at her weekly press briefing. "The fact, though, [is] that they're making it more dangerous for our first responders to have to deal with armor-piercing bullets."
"Silencers. Even in the case of Steve Scalise; if you can hear, you can run to where the tragedy is emanating from," she added. "It's horrible."
Pelosi sounded resigned to its passage, saying Democrats would fight it but Republicans will "have the votes."
Scalise returned to Congress on Thursday for the first time since being wounded in June when a politically far-left gunman opened fire at a Republican congressional baseball practice.
Scalise addressed the chamber, and Pelosi and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) both delivered brief remarks welcoming Scalise back and expressing gratitude for his recovery.
UPDATE: 1:38 P.M.: This article was updated with information about the bill requiring background checks to purchase silencers.