The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A guide to House’s gun control efforts
The Democratic-controlled House on Wednesday approved a measure requiring federal background checks for all firearms sales and transfers, the first major gun control legislation considered by Congress in nearly 25 years. Democrats called the 240-190 vote a step to address an epidemic of gun violence, including 17 people who were killed at a Florida high school last year. Another measure on background checks is scheduled for a vote today. Here’s what you need to know about the measures.
What do the bills do?
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which the House approved today, requires universal background checks, closing a loophole for buyers at gun shows and online. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, also prohibits firearms transfers by a person who is not a licensed dealer. There are a number of exceptions, though, such as a family member giving a firearm as a gift, or lending a gun to someone in imminent danger.
The second piece of legislation, the Enhanced Background Checks Act, is scheduled to be voted on today. Sponsored by Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-S.C., the majority whip, the bill seeks to extend the initial background check review period to 10 days from three.
Under federal law, the FBI has three business days to perform its review and determine whether there is sufficient evidence to deny a purchase. If it is unable to do so, on the fourth day, the customer can return to the dealer and buy a gun. That loophole allowed Dylann S. Roof, the man who killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015, to purchase a .45-caliber handgun even though he had previously admitted to drug possession, which should have barred him from legally obtaining the weapon.
How effective would new measures be?
A vast majority of guns used in 19 recent mass shootings were bought legally and after the gunman passed a federal background check. At least nine attackers had criminal histories or documented mental health problems that did not prevent them from obtaining their weapons.
“The new gun control restrictions currently being considered by the Democratic majority in HR 8 would not have prevented my shooting,” Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the Republican whip, said of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. Scalise was gravely wounded in 2017 when a gunman fired on members of the Republican congressional baseball team while they were practicing in Virginia.
Last year, the existing background check system identified and denied 88,000 gun sales to prohibited buyers including criminals and domestic abusers, according to Thompson’s office — but those same people are currently able to make purchases at gun shows or online.
What are the chances they will become law?
The legislation faces dim prospects in the Republican-controlled Senate. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, said Tuesday the Senate would not take up the bills.