The anti-gun politicians in the House of Representative are planning to vote on the background checks bill this week. And while it will likely pass the House, it will have issues in the Senate. Also, the White House has stated that President Donald Trump will veto the measure. In fact, in a Statement of Administration Policy, it came out against both of the background checks bills. This includes the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, as well as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.
Both of these bills have significant support in the House, along with some support in the Senate. They also have support outside of the Capitol Building. In fact, the CEOs of four well-known anti-gun companies — Dick’s Sporting Goods, Levi Strauss & Co., TOMS and RXR Realty — published a letter yesterday urging its passage.
This is despite the fact that neither bill would have prevented any of the mass shootings that anti-gunners claim are the reason for the bills. This includes the Gabby Giffords shooting, for which H.R. 8 was named because it was introduced on the eighth anniversary of that event. Additionally, neither would have prevented the Las Vegas shooting, except for the fact that one of the bills could be used indefinitely delay a gun purchase.
The Background Checks Bills
Called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, H.R. 8 would criminalize all private gun sales, except for some very narrow exemptions. This means that one person could not sell a gun to another individual without going through a licensed gun dealer. This includes trusted friends and neighbors. In fact, the bill even makes loaning a friend a firearm illegal.
H.R. 1112 also regards background checks by extending the hold period allowed for a NICS check to 10 business days. Current federal law requires the check to be completed in three days or the dealer is allowed to finish the purchase. The bill also requires the purchaser to petition the government if the check doesn’t go through in time. Then, the FFL dealer would still have to wait 10 more business days until finishing the transfer. Additionally, another federal law states that background checks become invalid after 30 calendar days. Because one uses calendar days and the other uses business days, the process could go on indefinitely, possibly banning some people from purchasing guns through a glitch in the system. Either that, or someone knew what he or she was doing when writing this bill.
