Topline
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act earned its name on Thursday after 8 House Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the bill – which would expand gun background checks to unlicensed firearms dealers – with one Democrat voting against it for a final vote of 227-203.
Key Facts
The Republicans who supported the bill included Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who co-sponsored the legislation along with Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).
Three members of the freshman class also voted for the bill: Reps. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.), Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), whose predecessor, Peter King, was a vocal proponent of the legislation.
Gimenez said in a statement that he voted for the bill to “close a loophole exploited by dangerous criminals” while adding that he will “never support proposals to curb legal ownership of firearms.”
Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) also voted for the bill, while Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who both voted for the bill in 2019, voted against it on Thursday.
Mast, in a statement, cited new provisions giving the attorney general expanded powers to regulate gun sales made by private businesses, which he said would “undermine the 2nd Amendment” and attributed to “pressure from the far-left.”
Key Background
The bill would require a background check for any unlicensed gun transaction, such as an exchange between family members. The House also passed a bill to close the “Charleston Loophole” – which allows gun sales to proceed if a background check is not completed after 3 days – and expand the background check review period to 10 days. That bill passed 219-210, with Smith and Fitzpatrick voting for it and Golden and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) voting against it.
Surprising Fact
Both bills are minor regulations in the broader spectrum of gun control proposals and offer concessions to gun advocates, including prohibiting the creation of a national gun registry and allowing businesses to make a gun sale after 10 days if the background check is incomplete.
Tangent
The one Democrat who voted against the bill was Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a moderate who frequently bucks his party, most notably by voting against the $1.9 trillion relief bill passed by all other House Democrats on Wednesday.
Crucial Quote
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a vocal proponent of gun control, called for the bill to be passed in the Senate during a virtual event on Thursday. "If you can't pass a background check, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun in this country,” he said.
What To Watch For
Unlike the relief bill, the background check bills cannot be passed through reconciliation, meaning they are subject to the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a Senate filibuster. That means it is doomed in the upper chamber unless Democrats can cobble together 10 Republican votes – an unlikely prospect.
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March 12, 2021 at 12:42AM
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8 House Republicans Break With Party To Back Expanded Gun Background Checks - Forbes
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