The House of Representatives on Thursday passed two bills to expand background checks on gun sales, and two national gun rights organizations have been quick to respond.
According to CBS News, the hotly debated “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021,” (H.R. 8,) was passed on a vote of 227 to 203, with eight Republicans joining majority Democrats supporting the bill. That was followed by a 219-210 vote approving H.R. 1446, the so-called “Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021.”
Gun rights organizations issued bristling statements renouncing both measures.
Jason Ouimet, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, called the bills “a transparent attempt by gun control advocates in Congress to restrict the rights of law-abiding Americans under the guise of addressing the violent criminal culture in America.”
“The truth, however, is that neither of these bills will do anything to solve that problem,” Ouimet asserted in a prepared statement. “By giving full power to unelected government bureaucrats to indefinitely delay and prevent lawful firearm transfers, H.R. 1446 could ultimately destroy the Second Amendment rights guaranteed to every law-abiding American by turning it into a privilege enjoyed by a select few. H.R. 8, so called ‘universal’ background checks, cannot be enforced without a federal gun registry, will not prevent crime, and will turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals for simply loaning a firearm to friends or family members. If Congress is serious about the safety of law-abiding citizens, it should have passed concealed carry reciprocity so that Americans can safeguard themselves and their families across state lines and throughout our country during these dangerous times.”
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the grassroots Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, declared them to be “extremist” legislation.
“With Thursday’s House passage of two extremist gun control measures covering so-called ‘universal background checks’ and closing the so-called ‘Charleston loophole,’ it opens the pathway for Congress to focus on H.R. 127,” Gottlieb stated.
For the past two weeks, CCRKBA has been running a national television campaign warning gun owners about the sweeping provisions of H.R. 127, sponsored by anti-gun Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a far-left Houston, Texas Democrat. She testified in support of H.R. 8 during the contentious floor debate Wednesday.
According to the Wall Street Journal, eight Republicans voted in favor of H.R. 8.
The Independent reported that two Republicans crossed party lines to vote for H.R. 1446, which extends the period for completing background checks from three to ten days. It will supposedly solve the “Charleston loophole,” so named because killer Dylann Roof was able to pick up a handgun in 2015, despite a disqualifying criminal conviction, “due to a lapse in the FBI’s background check process,” the newspaper said.
According to House voting results, the eight Republicans voting for H.R. 8 were Reps. Vern Buchanan (FL-16), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), Andrew Garbarino (NY-2), Carlos Gimenez (FL-26), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Maria Salazar (FL-27), Chris Smith (NJ-4) and Fred Upton (ME-6). Fitzpatrick and Smith also voted for H.R. 1446.
The lone Democrat opposing both measures was Rep. Jared Golden (ME-2).
