Striving for reform

Recent mass shootings have sparked a series of gun-control proposals in Congress:

The Bipartisan Background Checks

Act of 2019: This legislation would close the “gun-show loophole” by prohibiting most private firearm sales unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer or importer first takes possession of the weapon to conduct a background check on the buyer. It passed the House in February by a vote of 240-190, with eight Republicans in favor and two Democrats opposed.

The Enhanced Background Checks

Act of 2019: This bill would extend the time for a gun seller to obtain a federal background check on a buyer to 10 days, with the potential for another 10 if needed. Current law allows sales to go through if the check isn’t finished within three days, which is how white nationalist Dylann Roof bought the .45-caliber Glock handgun he used to slaughter nine black worshippers at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, in 2015. It passed the House in February, on a largely party-line vote of 228-198.

“Red flag” laws: These state laws, first endorsed by President Trump following last year’s highschool massacre in Parkland, Fla., let authorities obtain “extremerisk protection orders” to seize guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others, and prevent them from buying any more until the orders are lifted. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed them, including New York, where a measure signed by Gov. Cuomo in February goes into effect on Aug. 24. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday announced plans for federal legislation encouraging the remaining states to pass similar laws.