The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass sweeping legislation that would expand background checks on nearly all gun purchases, including most firearms transfers. In a 240-190 vote, Congress took its most overreaching move on gun control in two decades as Democrats now hold the majority.
H.R. 8, dubbed the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019,” would “utilize the current background checks process in the United States to ensure individuals prohibited from gun possession are not able to obtain firearms.” The bill stated that any person who is not a “licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer” will be prohibited from transferring a firearm to any other person who is also not licensed.
Law enforcement officers, private security personnel, members of the armed forces, and a few others are excluded from the provision of the legislation.
House Democrats claim that extending background checks to cover more private sales is a “simple way” to have the government flag more people who are barred from buying guns, including those convicted of felonies and terrorists.
“Gun violence does not discriminate by party or politics,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA-12) in a report from The Washington Times. “It reaches into all of our communities, into our schools, our places of worship, our workplaces and our streets, and it will require all of our courage to defeat it.”
Currently, only federally-licensed gun dealers are required to run the checks through the FBI’s national instant check system. Republicans, however, say the legislation will result in law-abiding citizens becoming swept up in federal bureaucracy.
Although the bill states that it does not “authorize the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms registry,” conservatives are weary that the legislation is just the first step toward doing such.
While the bill will be sent to the U.S. Senate, it is highly unlikely that it will pass with Republicans in control.