Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) issued the following statement on the House’s passage of two pieces of commonsense background check legislation related to the purchase of firearms:
“As a mom, I’m committed to doing everything I can to ensure that our kids don’t have to live in a world where they feel schools, churches, shopping malls, and movie theaters are not safe places because of the threat of gun violence.
Today, I voted for two commonsense public safety bills that enact universal background checks and close loopholes in existing law to ensure that guns don’t end up in the hands of those who would do our children and communities harm.
Responsible gun ownership is a part of our heritage in Iowa. Like many Iowans, my family has a tradition of hunting, and I worked at the State of Iowa approving the licenses for countless responsible Iowa hunters. The legislation that I helped advance today does nothing to infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners.”
Background:
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act, H.R. 8, closes a loophole that permits unlicensed sellers to sell guns without conducting a background check. Unlicensed gun sellers, including online and peer-to-peer sales, are not subject to the same requirement as gun sales made in a store.
Enhanced Background Checks Act, H.R. 1446, extends the background check waiting period from three days to ten days – closing the “Charleston loophole” that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase a firearm and murder nine worshipers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 because a background check was not completed within three days.
While over 90% of the background checks submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) are completed within minutes, some require additional review. Under current law, if a background check is not completed in three days, licensed firearms dealers are permitted to proceed with the gun sale without a result.
In 2017, the FBI reported this ‘default proceed’ provision enabled 4,864 individuals who are prohibited from owning guns to complete purchases.
Original source can be found here.
