This doesn’t seem that bad, right?
House slated to vote on most significant gun control bill in years
The House is slated to vote Wednesday on landmark legislation to require universal background checks for gun sales, a top priority for Democrats.
It will mark the most significant gun control vote in years after the Senate failed in 2013 to pass similar bipartisan legislation to expand the federal background check system.
It’s not the only day this week the House will take up legislation to address gun violence.
House Democrats plan to follow Wednesday’s vote with another on Thursday for a bill to lengthen the review period for background checks, which is meant as a response to the 2015 shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. (snip)
The universal background checks measure would require background checks to cover sales made at gun shows and over the internet. Current law only mandates federally licensed firearms dealers to conduct background checks before making a gun sale.
The universal background checks measure, authored by Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Pete King (R-N.Y.), is titled the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.
But it’s not expected to attract more than a handful of House GOP votes beyond the five who have co-sponsored the bill: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Brian Mast (Fla.), Fred Upton (Mich.), Chris Smith (N.J.) and King.
The waiting periods one would mandate a 10 day waiting period, which would give Los Federales more time to perform the background check, then another 10 days if the check hasn’t been completed. This changes from the current federal three days, in which they sometimes fail to get it done, which means it is approved. As for background checks, there are a few squishy Republicans, like the above.
But House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was nearly killed in 2017 after a man targeting GOP lawmakers opened fire on a congressional baseball practice, is on the opposite side of the debate. He doesn’t think the legislation would have necessarily prevented recent mass shootings. The man who shot him, for example, had obtained his firearms legally.
“If you look at the bill, it wouldn’t have stopped many of these mass shootings. What it would do is make it harder for law-abiding citizens to exercise their rights,†Scalise told The Hill on Tuesday.
Which is exactly the point of these bills, and the more to come.
Thompson dismissed criticism that his legislation wouldn’t have prevented recent mass shootings, arguing that shouldn’t be a reason to reject expanding background checks.
“As far as anybody who says, ‘Well, this bill wouldn’t have solved this incident’? The only thing that will solve every one is to do away with guns,†Thompson said Tuesday.
So, it won’t actually solve the issues they’re claiming it will solve? Huh. Just look at California, which already requires these background checks, yet, has lots of shootings.
(Daily Caller) “They’re bills that [Democrats are] putting on the floor under the guise of saying that they’re going to address issues related to gun violence — neither one of these bills would have done anything to stop some of the tragedies that we have seen,†Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney told a crowd, referring to the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (HR 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act (HR 1112).
The House is expected to vote on HR 8 and HR 1112 by Friday, which would require a background check for nearly every firearm purchase and a 10-day waiting period for firearm sales, respectively. While neither bill specifically calls for a national gun registry, GOP lawmakers argue neither could be enforced without a federal database in place. (snip)
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz further criticized Democrats for trying to impose anti-gun legislation that “fails to protect vulnerable people†while simultaneously voting against GOP-sponsored, “common sense†measures like notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when an illegal immigrant fails a background check.
“This isn’t really about public safety,†Gaetz said. “It’s about blood lust that Democrats have to take away guns from law-abiding citizens.â€
You really can’t do it without a registry, and the same people want to protect illegal aliens who attempt to buy a firearm through legal channels (which very few actually do). Very little of this, nor their upcoming bills, targets actual bad people, just the law abiding firearms owners.
