Democrats Start Their Push For Gun Control: 1st Attack- Universal Background Checks

WASHINGTON, D.C. –-(Ammoland.com)- AmmoLand News’ sources inside the U.S House of Representatives have confirmed Democrats are readying a push for so-called universal “enhanced” background checks. Dropping two related bills BackGround Check bills, both taking away your privacy and restricting your rights.

Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8)

California Democrat Mike Thompson’s “Bipartisan Background Checks Act” (H.R. 8) would end the way private sales of firearms are handled in the majority of the country.

The bill would require a gun to be transferred to a licensed dealer before the gun can be sold to another private party. Democrats have long called this the “gun show loophole,” even though most gun buyers go through a background check at a gun show.

The bill exempts law enforcement, the military, and private security firms from the universal background requirements. Also, the transfer of firearms given as gifts between family members is exempt as long as the person transferring the gun doesn’t have a reason to believe the recipient is a prohibited person.

There is also an exception if the firearm transfer is temporary and is necessary to prevent “imminent death or great bodily harm.” Gun ranges are also exempt them from the proposed law allowing them to rent out guns to the general public. The sponsors of the bill claim that it will prevent criminals from getting firearms.

If universal background checks pass, it will artificially raise the age to buy a handgun across the country to 21.

We can see one example of this problem in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth’s law states one only has to be 18 to purchase a pistol from a private sale. When Virginia enacted universal background checks, it prevented legal adults between 18 and 20 from buying a handgun from a private sale because licensed dealers can’t transfer a handgun to anyone under 21. A Virginia judge stuck down the universal background law for people between 18 and 20.

The same bill was submitted in 2019. The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote to 240 to 190 with two members not voting.

Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021” (H.R. 1446)

The second bill is “Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021” (H.R. 1446). South Carolina Democrat Jim Clayborn has pushed this bill claiming that it would make background checks more effective. The bill would make dealers wait ten days for a response before they can petition to transfer a gun to a buyer if National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) doesn’t respond with an answer. Right now, the law states that the dealer must wait three days for a response before they can transfer the gun in place of an answer.

If NICS doesn’t answer, the buyer would have to now file a certified petition with the same information from the 4473 to get the firearm. The dealer will have to then wait an additional ten days on top of the time already waited by the buyer. The law doesn’t state when the buyer can file their petition.

Internal sources inside the FBI reports that the FBI destroys all records of delayed firearms sales within 90 days. Most of the time, the agency destroys the records on day 88. The majority of documents that are delayed more than three days are never checked by the law enforcement agency, which means changing the delay period doesn’t affect the public’s safety.

Gun rights advocates worry that this is just a way to create more hoops for gun buyers to jump through. They fear that roadblocks might discourage new gun buyers from exercising their Constitutional rights.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) told AmmoLand News that she would stand up to attempts to pass the bills. She states that H.R. 8 is a gun registry. The Congresswoman is staunchly pro-gun.

The Congresswoman told AmmoLand: “As I said on the campaign trail, I am OPPOSED to National Gun Registration (H.R.8) and will fight alongside my colleagues in the house to defeat this dangerous attack on our Second Amendment rights.”

In an effort to fast-track bills and shorten the window for public outcry, Congress has changed its schedule to meet on Monday, March 8th, 2021 with the week’s first votes at 6:30 p.m. The last votes of the week will occur on Thursday, March 11th. Then again on Tuesday, March 16th, with the first votes of the week at 6:30 p.m. The last votes of the week will occur on Friday, March 19th, 2021.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.

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