Democrats have reintroduced gun sale background check legislation that requires unlicensed or private sellers to conduct a background check before selling a firearm.
The Background Check Expansion Act introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is co-sponsored by 43 Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., while Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., has resurfaced a companion bill in the House, The Hill reported.
"Joe Biden and hundreds of congressional candidates from both parties ran on the issue of background checks," Sen. Murphy's wrote in a press release. "This is the year to get this bill passed into law. And this legislation has the chance to bring this country together — even 85% of gun owners believe in expanding background checks, and a growing anti-gun violence movement, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, is demanding change."
Critics of gun control laws frequently argue lawless Americans by definition do not follow laws, so gun laws will also be ignored.
President Joe Biden's platform vowed to "enact universal background check legislation," per his campaign website.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act was passed by the Democrat-controlled House in February 2019, but the GOP-held Senate never brought it up for a vote because then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not see 60 votes for the legislation.
"For years, this bipartisan House-passed background checks bill languished in the Senate under Republican Leader Mitch McConnell," Schumer wrote in a press release. "Now, with Senate Democrats in the majority, we have the opportunity to act on this overwhelmingly popular, lifesaving legislation to protect American communities."
The background checks in the bill would be required for online, gun shows, or out of home for all unlicensed sellers. There are exceptions for transfers between law enforcement officers, loaning guns for hunting or gifting to family members, inheritance, or temporary transfers for self defense, according to The Hill.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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