Washington D.C. –-(Ammoland.com)- H.R.8, known as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, passed the US House of Representatives.
The bill passed the chamber of Congress by a vote of 240 to 190. News media outlets like CNN claim that the bill passed with bipartisan support. Looking at the breakdown of the vote, the proposed law did not enjoy as much bipartisan support as CNN claimed.
Out of the 197 Republican members of the House only eight voted for the measure. Two Democrats, Jared Golden of Maine and Collin Peterson of Minnesota, joined the other 189 Republican members of the House in voting against it.
The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Peter King (R-NY). The Republican has a long history of embracing gun control. In the past, he has supported gun control measures such as the “no fly, no buy” bill which would have prevented people on the no-fly list from buying a gun.
The “no fly, no buy” bill would have blocked people who are on a secret no-fly list from purchasing a firearm with no recourse. There is no due process when being put on one of these lists and flying is not a right, but purchasing a gun is a Constitutionally protected right. It is support for draconian laws like these that have earned King a “D rating” with the NRA.
King claims that the passage of the bill will not affect most people.
“This is not going to affect more than probably less than 1% of the American people and the ones it will affect either suffer from mental illness or are criminals,” King said in a press conference. “So to me, it’s a phony issue being raised by some of the gun groups.”
Gun rights advocates argue that the majority of those denied by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) are false positives. The stats back this up in most states with the successful appeal rate being that of greater than 50%.
According to the Government Accountability Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) attempted to buy 72 guns illegally without going through a background check and all the sales failed. Fifty-two of the sellers refused to sell the guns to the undercover agents.
Groups like the NRA-ILA use these statistics to prove that universal background checks are ineffective. Others believe that universal background checks will lead to a gun registry. They believe a national firearms registry will lead to gun confiscations.
Nancy Pelosi has made gun control her top priority in exchange for the support of the new far-left wing of the House in her bid to be elected as the Speaker of the House, and it seems like she is keeping her new promise. With these new far-left members the influence of groups like Moms Demand Action, the Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords has increased.
“Today’s historic gun safety victory in Congress is a testament to courage,” Giffords said of the bill. “When the days were darkest when it looked like the gun lobby’s money, and influence would forever silence any debate in Washington about stronger gun laws, courage shone through.”
The bill will now move to the Senate where it most likely will be dead on arrival. The Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, and it would take a super majority of 60 to advance the bill to President Trump’s desk.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.