House adopts a gun control measure by expanding sales background

The House was preparing separately to vote to extend the window for background checks to ten days from three days, giving police authorities more time to examine individuals before buying weapons.

Both arms measures passed the House in 2019, after Democrats regained control of the House in the midterm elections, but faded into the Senate when then-majority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky. ), Refused to schedule votes.

The prospects for legislation in the Senate now controlled by Democrats are uncertain, but the effort could give more impetus to the party’s effort to change the rules of the narrowly divided chamber to facilitate the passage of laws.

“We know what we need to do to help protect millions of Americans,” said Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D., California). “I am proud to support these bills because there is clear evidence that will make our communities safer and save lives.”

Republican opponents said gun bills would impose bureaucratic burdens on law-abiding gun owners without addressing the avenues through which guns fall into the hands of people who misuse weapons.

Opponents also fear that background checks will aim to establish a national registry that the federal government can later use to remove weapons from gun owners, even though the law prohibits the creation of a national registry.

“Does this bill create a de facto gun register by involving the federal government in all arms transfers, including private transfers and gifts, or how will we enforce these requirements?” said Rep. Bob Good (R., Va.). “For my Democratic friends who suggest that conservatives and gun owners are paranoid about a national record, you bet we are.”

House Democrats, encouraged by their new control of Congress and the White House, have suffered a legislative tear after President Biden took office a month and a half ago, with votes on contentious police bills, rights of vote and now weapons. Narrows in both the House and Senate are motivating House Democrats to pass as much as they can as quickly as they can, even though many of the laws are very likely in the Senate.

An internal rule was also pushed that contemplated the procedures of the House which delays until April 1 the requirement that the legislation be subject to a hearing and vote of the committee. With that deadline, weeks back, Democrats have rushed to measures passed last year, including voting and police measures, without having to take time to put the measure into normal committee procedures and leave that the new members weigh.

Passing bills quickly could also put pressure on the Senate, where some Democrats want to change House procedures to clarify what they consider a bottleneck that has stopped their legislation. Many Democrats have debated changing or removing the 60-vote threshold, known as the filibuster, needed to move forward in most legislation. It would take the support of the 50 senators in the Democratic camp to change the rule and several have said they are not taking that step back.

The two guns receive a vote to address different aspects of gun ownership. One measure would mark the most important arms control measure in decades by requiring buyers to be screened for almost all private sales online and at gun shows, and it would be illegal to transfer and donate weapons to friends or family. or in other private transactions without going through background checks and meeting registration requirements. Currently, federal laws require controls only for sales from federally licensed dealers, although some states have added their own requirements.

The other would be extended to ten business days from three, the amount of time that firearm transactions could be delayed while a completed background check was expected using the national background check system. instant penalties. The FBI-operated system conducts inquiries to determine if a buyer is disqualified from owning a weapon.

The system was blamed for the shooting of nine people in 2015 during a Bible study meeting at a historically black church, where shooter Dylann Roof was able to buy a gun after his background was extended to the last three. days, which allowed him to take her home. A previous drug arrest should have prevented him from buying the weapon.

Congress has not made major changes to federal firearms laws in recent years, even when some high-profile executions were directed at lawmakers, including then-Democratic Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in 2011. and the then Whip of the House majority, Steve Scalise (R., La.). in 2017.

After the shooting of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the bill to extend the background to all online sales and gun sales failed in the Senate in 2013.

Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have also pushed for the prevention of terrorists buying firearms by banning people from the government’s “no-fly” list, but a number of proposals fell short in 2016, following the shooting at the Pulse nightclub. ‘Orlando, Florida.

In March 2018, Congress included a provision in a spending bill signed by then-President Donald Trump to strengthen compliance with the national background check system for the purchase of firearms. The measure added incentives for states and federal agencies, including the military, to file criminal conviction records in the system. Federal law requires agencies to submit relevant records, but at the state level, compliance is voluntary unless required by state law or federal funding requirements.

—Kristina Peterson contributed to this article.

Write to Siobhan Hughes to [email protected]