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The House on Thursday voted to undo an Obama-era rule that Republicans said wrongly blocked certain people from buying guns.
The rule, approved in the wake of the 2012 massacre of kindergartners in Newtown, Conn., expanded whose names must automatically be entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, thereby preventing them from buying a gun.
Under the rule, anyone with a mental disability receiving Social Security Administration benefits and requiring third-party assistance with their finances is barred from purchasing firearms.
The resolution of disapproval passed on Thursday 235-180. Under the Congressional Review Act, lawmakers can negate regulations if a joint resolution passes both chambers. However, it requires the president’s signature. While Obama was still president, Republicans needed a veto-proof majority to overturn any of his administration’s regulations.
