WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday reintroduced universal gun background check legislation that is wildly popular with the American public but not with most U.S. senators.
Federal law requires criminal background checks for firearm sales only at licensed dealers. Private sales between individuals, including at gun shows or online, are not subject to background checks.
Polls over the years have shows constantly that about 90 percent of Americans support requiring criminal background checks for all firearms sales. But it is extremely likely that no Republican senator will support Murphy’s bill.
“This is one of those issues where 90 percent of the American public has made up its mind and we still can’t get the bill through the Senate,” Murphy told HuffPost. “This is the holy grail of gun policy — it’s very popular and makes a big difference.”
Federal law prohibits some people from buying guns, including those who have been convicted of violent crimes or are subject to restraining orders. But without a background check, there’s nothing stopping them from buying a gun. Conformable an estimate for 2017nearly a quarter of new gun owners bought their guns without a background check.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the Senate Republican leadership team, told HuffPost that he would “obviously” oppose a universal check bill, as would any senator in favor of protecting the rights of the the second amendment. Not all Democrats will support Murphy’s bill; Sense. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) declined to co-sponsor last year’s versionand Manchin told HuffPost this week that his position has not changed.
With Republicans controlling the House for at least the next two years, universal background checks will remain a failure.
But Congress has not been completely paralyzed by gun violence, which has eclipsed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children in the United States in recent years. Last year, Murphy worked with Republicans on a bill that, among other things, would expand background checks for guns. buyers between the ages of 18 and 21. THE The FBI told HuffPost this week that extensive checks have so far denied dozens of arms sales.
The 2022 law also changed the legal definition of who is considered “engaged in the business” of selling guns and therefore must register with the federal government as a firearms dealer. The text emphasizes that someone is a dealer if “the intent underlying the sale or disposal of firearms is predominant. one to obtain pecuniary gain.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a top Republican partner of Murphy’s on the bill last year, said the language change “did” basically what Murphy is now trying to do with the bill.
“If they’re in the business of selling firearms, they’re going to be charged with a felony” if they don’t do a background check, Cornyn said.
The gun control group Giffords, which celebrated the new law, called the revision to the gun dealer language only a minor change: “The loophole that allows unlicensed dealers to sell guns without conducting background checks would remain open.” , Giffords. said on his website.
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