The House passed H.R. 8, requiring a background check for every firearm sale, 227-203. Overall, you have to go through an FFL (Federal Firearms License) to “transfer possession” of firearms.
Eight Republicans, yes, eight, voted yes. One Democrat voted no.
Only two Republicans helped push through H.R .1446, which expanded background checks.
You can thank these Republicans:
The language “transfer possession” piqued my interest. Of course, the left will say that it means “purchase,” but we all know how the government uses vague terms to apply the law to anything they want:
(a) In General.—Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:“(aa) (1) (A) It shall be unlawful for any person who is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not so licensed, unless a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession of the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection (t).“(B) Upon taking possession of a firearm under subparagraph (A), a licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring the firearm from the inventory of the licensee to the unlicensed transferee.“(C) If a transfer of a firearm described in subparagraph (A) will not be completed for any reason after a licensee takes possession of the firearm (including because the transfer of the firearm to, or receipt of the firearm by, the transferee would violate this chapter), the return of the firearm to the transferor by the licensee shall not constitute the transfer of a firearm for purposes of this chapter.
So does it matter if someone loaned you the gun and the purpose?
The bill has some exceptions. Just some:
The House passed HR 1446 219-210. Republicans Fitzpatrick and Smith voted for this one as well.
HR 1446 expanded background checks to at least 10 days from three:
(1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking clause (ii) and inserting the following:“(ii) in the event the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section—“(I) not fewer than 10 business days (meaning a day on which State offices are open) has elapsed since the licensee contacted the system, and the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section, and the other person has submitted, electronically through a website established by the Attorney General or by first-class mail, a petition for review which—“(aa) certifies that such other person has no reason to believe that such other person is prohibited by Federal, State, or local law from purchasing or possessing a firearm; and“(bb) requests that the system respond to the contact referred to in subparagraph (A) within 10 business days after the date the petition was submitted (or, if the petition is submitted by first-class mail, the date the letter containing the petition is postmarked); and“(II) 10 business days have elapsed since the other person so submitted the petition, and the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section; and”;
The bill also allows the attorney general to develop the form needed to make a petition, put it on the internet, and acknowledge the people with a “notice of receipt.”
The attorney general will also “respond on an expedited basis to any such petition” he received from people.
Yes, the government can extend the waiting period:
“(8) (A) If, after 3 business days have elapsed since the licensee initially contacted the system about a firearm transaction, the system notifies the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would not violate subsection (g) or (n), the licensee may continue to rely on that notification for the longer of—“(i) an additional 25 calendar days after the licensee receives the notification; or“(ii) 30 calendar days after the date of the initial contact.“(B) If such other person has met the requirements of paragraph (1)(B)(ii) before the system destroys the records related to the firearm transaction, the licensee may continue to rely on such other person having met the requirements for an additional 25 calendar days after the date such other person first met the requirements.”.
I doubt the Senate will find 60 votes to pass these bills. Undoubtedly, the Democrats will push Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) to give them 51 votes to pass it through budget reconciliation.
I’d say they should worry about Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, too, but she might support it since she is from Arizona due to Gabby Giffords. Oh, yeah. Giffords’ husband is the other Arizona senator.
It really might fall on Manchin’s shoulders.
Of course, we all know the Democrats want to end the filibuster. Democrats have started brewing ideas to get around Manchin’s crazy idea of bringing in the other side on issues.
The Senate is split 50-50, but the Democrats have the tie-breaking vote in Vice President Kamala Harris.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY