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Democrats have prioritized Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill called the “American Rescue Plan,” according to Town Hall.
The next thing they are focused on is “enhanced background checks” according to the NRA and the NSSF.
🚨BREAKING: Sources in DC report that Congress will be voting on Biden’s extreme gun control legislation as early as next week.
Possible that they will bypass committee process.
Stay tuned, NRA members.
— NRA (@NRA) March 1, 2021
Democratic House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn introduced the Enhanced Background Check Act of 2021.
“Under current law, a Federal Firearms Licensee is allowed to legally sell a firearm if a background check from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is still pending after three days. The FFL is not required to complete the transaction but they can proceed if they believe the buyer is not a felon,” Town Hall stated.
Clyburn’s bill would essentially extend the “3 days pending” to “30 days pending.”
NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Larry Keane, said the firearms industry trade association opposes the bill.
“If the bill is the same as what was introduced in the last Congress, we will be opposed to it now as we were then. This bill increases the burden on small business firearm retailer owners and flips the burden of proof on its head. This would make it incumbent upon the law-abiding citizen to prove his or her innocence to the government to exercise their Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm instead of the government being responsible for proving an individual is prohibited,” Keane said in a statement. “This could potentially deny a law-abiding citizen their rights for up to a month, while they are saddled with the burden of proving their innocence. That’s un-American.”
“Rather than placing further burdens on retailers and law-abiding gun owners, Congress should focus on adequately resourcing NICS,” Keane said. “NSSF is the only organization that has successfully advocated for NICS to have the necessary resources to perform its mission in a timely manner.”
From Town Hall:
This appears to be a response to Biden’s Valentine’s Day call for gun control legislation. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden is contemplating signing executive orders to push through the anti-Second Amendment policies he wants, like an assault weapons ban, a “high capacity” magazine ban, and universal background checks. Another wish list item on the gun control front is repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects firearms manufacturers and FFLs from being held legally liable for crimes committed with the guns they produced and/or sold.
