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House passes gun control measure
New legislation allows a review period of up to 10 days for background checks on firearms purchases.
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed legislation that would extend the window for completing a background check for gun purchases and transfers to at least 10 business days, after a heated floor debate in which two lawmakers spoke passionately about their personal experiences with domestic violence.
The Enhanced Back- ground Checks Act of 2019 passed on a vote of 228 to 198. Three Republicans crossed party lines to back the legislation, while seven Democrats voted against it.
The bill aims to close the “Charleston loophole,” a reference to the 2015 killings of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church. The gunman was able to purchase the weapons after a three-day federal background check failed to turn up a prior conviction.
Jennifer Pinckney, the widow of one of the Charleston victims, was present in the House gallery with her daughters for Thursday’s vote, according to the Charleston Post and Courier.
The measure’s passage follows Wednesday’s vote on a separate bill expanding federal background checks for gun purchases and transfers. President Trump has threatened to veto both measures, and they stand little chance of passage in the Republicancontrolled Senate.
The bills represent the first major firearms legislation in more than a decade, part of a new push by House Democrats to combat the country’s gun violence epidemic since they retook control of the chamber in January.
The legislation was spearheaded by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., who referenced the 2015 shooting in an impassioned speech.
“The members of this august body need to think a little bit about the value of those lives. Are they more valuable than the inconvenience a gun purchaser may have by having to wait 10 rather than three days to make a purchase?” he said.
The three Republicans voting “yes” were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Peter King of New York and Christopher Smith of New Jersey. The seven Democrats who voted against the measure were Reps. Anthony Brindisi of New York, Jared Golden of Maine, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Ben McAdams of Utah, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico.
On the House floor Thursday, Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., mentioned her personal experience as she proposed adding a provision that would allow firearms to be transferred to domestic violence victims after a maximum of three business days.
“As most of you know, I am a survivor of domestic violence, and that is why this motion to recommit is so personally important to me,” Lesko told the chamber. She then told the story of a woman in New Jersey who was killed by her abuser while waiting for her firearm application to be approved.
“Do we really want to tell victims of domestic violence they have to wait up to 20 business days — which is under this bill — before they are allowed to adequately defend themselves?” she asked.
“No!” some lawmakers shouted in response.
Rep. Debbie Dingell, DMich., rose to urge Democrats to oppose Lesko’s proposal, recounting the details of her own personal experience growing up as the daughter of a domestic abuser.
“My father was mentally ill. I had to hide in that closet with my siblings, wondering if we would live or die. One night, I kept my father from killing my mother. He shouldn’t have had a gun,” Dingell said, prompting applause from some in the House chamber.
She said she remembered her mother going out to buy a gun — “and then all of us were scared to death about her gun and my father’s gun.”
“We had two guns to worry about. No child, no woman, no man should ever have to go through that,” she said.
Lesko’s motion fell short of being adopted on a 194-to-232 vote.