One day after pushing through their “universal background check” bill, House Democrats passed on a 228-198 vote another measure that extends the allowable waiting period for a background check confirmation to 10, and possibly 20 days.
Immediately, the National Rifle Association’s Chris Cox issued a blistering statement.
“The anti-gun politicians in the House of Representatives continue to employ the shameful tactic of exploiting tragedies to market gun control that won’t prevent criminals from committing murder. It’s a sham and the Charleston Loophole bill is the perfect example of their dishonesty. The assertion that a supposed 10-day delay would have prevented a crime that took place over 60 days after the initial delay is ridiculous. This legislation would not have prevented the Charleston murders, and even worse, the legislation is so poorly drafted it would put law-abiding citizens who need a firearm for self-defense at risk by trapping them in an endless loop of delays.”—Chris Cox, NRA Institute for Legislative Action
According to the New York Times, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared to reporters that her marching orders to Democrats were “Vote no, just vote no, because the fact is a vote yes is to give leverage to the other side and surrender leverage on the floor of the House.”
So, that’s what this is all about, preventing “the other side” from gaining leverage on the House floor? Isn’t it supposed to be about going after criminals while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners?
The legislation, H.R. 1112, was the second of two anti-gun punches delivered by Democrats who promised to put gun control at the top of their agenda for this session of Congress. It extends the review period for an “Instant background check” from the current three days to 10, and allows extending that period for another 10 days if there is still no report back from the FBI’s National Instant Check System (NICS).
This bill, and the expanded background check legislation, H.R. 8, will likely be dead-on-arrival in the U.S. Senate, and President Donald Trump has reportedly said he would veto both bills.
But in passing the measures, House Democrats have fulfilled a campaign promise to their increasingly left-leaning base.
“Instead of restricting American’s Second Amendment rights, our government should be doing everything possible to protect our children and that includes allowing, and supporting, trained, licensed teachers and administrators to arm themselves. In countless situations across this country, responsibly-armed Americans have been the front lines of defense against evildoers because they have the necessary knowledge, training and experience to protect those around them. In an emergency situation, seconds matter and a well-trained, responsible gun owner can save lives in an active-shooter situation.”—Tim Schmidt, founder and president of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association
The NRA isn’t the only critic of this second bill. Tim Schmidt, founder and president of the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, wrote an Op-Ed in The Hill that contended, “Unfortunately, as we see all too often in Washington, D.C., much of the attention from anti-gun legislators in Congress has focused on blindly passing more laws, more background checks and more ‘gun-free zones,’ while failing to note that they would have done virtually nothing to prevent these attacks.”
He insisted that the bills would “essentially criminalize private gun sales and add an indefinite extension to the time to complete a NICS instant background check.”
“Once again, anti-Second Amendment politicians in Washington want to punish law-abiding Americans instead of taking concrete steps to stop evildoers,” Schmidt said.
While Pelosi and her Democrat colleagues may think voters will forget all about this by the November 2020 election, they may be forgetting that gun owners have pretty long memories. Just ask any of the 50-plus Democrats who lost their jobs in November 1994 after passing the Brady Law and the Clinton “assault weapons” ban.
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