Senators introduce background- check bill
Bipartisan legislation would penalize agencies
WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of senators led by GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas introduced legislation last week to boost compliance with the federal background check system following a Texas church massacre that may have been prevented if authorities had reported the shooter’s violent history.
The bill penalizes federal agencies that fail to properly report relevant records and provides incentives to states to improve their reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The bill also directs more federal funding to the accurate reporting of domestic violence records.
“For years agencies and states haven’t complied with the law, failing to upload these critical records without consequence,” Cornyn said. “Just one record that’s not properly reported can lead to tragedy, as the country saw last week in Sutherland Springs, Texas. This bill aims to help fix what’s become a nationwide, systemic problem so we can better prevent criminals and domestic abusers from obtaining firearms.”
The development follows the Air Force’s failure to submit a criminal conviction that would have disqualified shooter Devin Kelley from buying a gun. Twenty- five people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in the Nov. 5 shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Kelly was convicted in a 2012 court martial for assaulting his then- wife and fracturing the skull of his infant stepson.
Gun control groups applauded the bill as an important first step to improving the background check system. Cornyn introduced the “Fix NICS Act” with Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Tim Scott, R- S. C.; and Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn.; along with Orrin Hatch, R- Utah; Dianne Feinstein, D- Calif.; Dean Heller, R- Nev.; and Jeanne Shaheen, D- N. H.
“This deal will strengthen the background check system and save lives,” said Murphy, a vocal gun- control advocate who represented Newtown, Conn., where 26 were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. “Our bill marks an important milestone that shows real compromise can be made on the issue of guns.”
Murphy, who is pushing legislation to expand background checks, added: “This bill will make sure that thousands of dangerous people are prevented frombuying guns. It represents the strongest update to the background- checks system in a decade, and provides the foundation for more compromise.”
A Quinnipiac University poll, taken after the Texas shooting, found 95% of American voters — including 94% among those in households with a gun — support universal background checks for gun purchases, the highest level of support since the question was first asked in 2013 after the Sandy Hook shooting.
Any agency that fails to comply would be held accountable through public reporting on the Department of Justice website. States that comply would be rewarded with federal grant preferences and penalized with public reporting if they fail.
“Just one record that’s not properly reported can lead to tragedy.” Sen. John Cornyn, R- Texas