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Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, D-Calif., Holds a press conference with former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, on the left, and Representative Mike Thompson, D-Calif., To present a bill to extend the firearms sales background checks at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
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Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, D-Calif., Holds a press conference with former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, on the left, and Representative Mike Thompson, D-Calif., To present a bill to extend firearms sales background checks at Capitol Hill Tuesday in Washington, DC
Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
The new Democratic majority of the House promises to do something the party avoided when it last controlled the levers of power in Washington: passing a gun law that strengthened the requirements for background check for all weapons purchases.
"You look at those years, 2009, 2010, when you got Barack Obama in the White House, 60 Democratic votes in the Senate, a big Democratic majority in the House, and not only nothing happened, but this 'was not even on the table,' said Peter Ambler, executive director of Giffords, the organization for the defense of victims of armed violence founded by former representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. "We had collectively, politically, as one country said," We will not solve this problem. The opposition is too powerful. ""
On Tuesday, on the eighth anniversary of the 2011 Tucson shooting, Gifford was seriously injured and killed six people, a group of bipartisan MPs introduced legislation to expand verification requirements background to almost all sales and most arms transfers, including Internet sales, gun shows and person-to-person transactions, with some exemptions for the immediate family.
The bill is co-sponsored by representatives, Mike Thompson, D-Calif., And Peter King, RN.Y., and includes four other original GOP co-sponsors: Brian Fitzpatrick representatives from Pennsylvania, Fred Upton Michigan, Chris Smith New Jersey and Brian Mast Florida.
"From the public ballot to the polls, the American people have expressed themselves and asked for measures to help put an end to the tragedy of armed violence suffered by too many people every day in our country. We will continue our fight and we will make our efforts, "said Thompson.
"When we check the background, we keep the guns of people who we all know should not have them," said King.
This would be the first major firearms bill to be passed in the House since the 1994 crime bill, which temporarily prohibited the manufacture and sale of certain semi-automatic firearms. The Senate has tried and failed since then to legislate on the sale of firearms, background checks and firearms safety, but the House has consistently avoided the issue because of democratic inaction or Republican opposition.
In the Nine Years since the Democrats' Last Control of the House, the Atmosphere on the guns changed on Capitol Hill. A combination of mass shooting events since then, plus elections that continue to dominate the party's conservative rural democrats, has resulted in a new Democratic majority in the House. It is again led by President Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Who wishes to pass a law on firearms this year.
of Democrats who have campaigned forcefully for tougher firearms laws, including Representative Jason Crow, D- Colo., Who defeated the attending GOP representative, Mike Coffman, in a Denver suburb near the site of the 1999 Columbine School shootings and the 2012 Aurora film theatrical release.
Democratic assistants told NPR leaders that they intended to introduce the bill quickly
The National Rifle Association, a powerful gun rights group, opposes the Thompson-King Act.
"The alleged universal background check will never be universal because criminals do not respect the law," said NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker. "Rather than seek effective solutions to address the root causes of violent crime and save lives, anti-gun politicians prefer to score political points and enact ineffective legislation that does not prevent criminals commit crimes. "
This universal background check would have prevented any of the mass shots in recent years, where all the firearms used were purchased legally or because of the failure of the background check system. himself.
Former US representative, Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz.
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Gabby Giffords, D-Arizona, former US Representative
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The opposition of the NRAs pretty much indicates that the legislation will not release the Senate or be supported by President Trump, an ally.
Gun safety advocates like Emily Nottingham say the vote in the House still counts. "This will tell us who is with us and who is against us, and that will help us decide who we will support in the next election cycle," Nottingham said at an event gathering survivors of gun violence. Nottingham's son, Gabe Zimmerman, was a former Gifford councilor who was shot and killed during the 2011 Tucson shootings.
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