The House is due to vote on the bill next week, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, announced on Tuesday.
Sen. Chris Murphy and Rep. Mike Thompson reintroduced the bill in the Senate and House mere moments ahead of Hoyer’s announcement. It would require full background checks on all gun sales and many gun transfers.
Democrats passed the legislation back in 2019, however, the GOP-led Senate at that time proceeded to swiftly ignore the bill.
Now, Democrats control the Senate, the House, as well as the White House, and thus, they have the first opportunity to expand gun control since 1993.
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“Joe Biden and hundreds of congressional candidates from both parties ran on the issue of background checks,” Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, noted in a statement Tuesday. “This is the year to get this bill passed into law.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, is a co-sponsor of the bill but has not announced timing for consideration of the measure after the House passes it.
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The bill would make it illegal to transfer a firearm to another person without a background check performed by a licensed dealer beforehand.
The legislation carves out some exceptions for family members and some transfers associated with law enforcement and the military. The bill would also exclude the background check requirement for temporary transfers of firearms “that is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”
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Democrats Tuesday touted bipartisan support. Eight House Republicans voted for it back in 2019, but it is not clear at this time whether or not Democrats would receive the 10 Republican votes in the Senate required to circumvent a filibuster.
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Hoyer pointed out on Tuesday that the House next week will also consider separate legislation that would extend the time needed to conduct background checks from three to 10 days, which was authored in response to the June 2015 mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
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The shooter was able to purchase a weapon, even though he should have been disqualified after a gun background check time limit expired.
Congress last passed a gun control measure in 1993. The bill, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, established a waiting period for handgun purchases and established a national instant criminal background check system to be contacted by firearms dealers before the transfer of any firearm.
In 1994, Congress passed and Clinton signed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, which prohibited civilian possession of certain semi-automatic weapons. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004.
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