WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives has passed a gun-control bill in the wake of the country's recent mass shootings, but it is unlikely to pass the Senate, which is evenly divided.

According to sources, the package, named the Protecting Our Kids Act, was enacted late Wednesday by a vote of 223-204, primarily along party lines. The bill would, among other things, raise the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 years old and prohibit people from using bump stocks. Senators from both parties have met to discuss gun legislation in the hopes of reaching an agreement on stricter gun laws.

The move on Capitol Hill came while the United States was still suffering from the horrific shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, which killed 19 children and two teachers. 

Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary School who survived the massacre, testified before US legislators on Wednesday that she coated herself in her friend's blood and pretended to be dead.

In a taped video to a House panel, Cerrillo, 11, said of the gunman, "He shot my friend who was next to me, and I felt he was going to come back to the room." "So I took the blood and smeared it all over myself." She also stated that she sought "security" when she went to school, despite the fact that she no longer feels protected.

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