House Democrats wasted little time in starting to push their anti-gun agenda as House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi introduced a bill that would expand the background check program.
The aim of the bill is to “keep guns out of the hands of people we all agree shouldn’t have guns,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., one of the bill’s sponsors.
The NRA has long opposed the notion of “universal” background checks because, quite simply, they’re not really universal.
"So-called universal background checks will never be universal because criminals do not comply with the law," said NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker. "Instead of looking for effective solutions that will deal with root cause of violent crime and save lives, anti-gun politicians would rather score political points and push ineffective legislation that doesn't stop criminals from committing crimes."
Not only that, but we have seen cases—like the Sutherland Springs, Texas, shooting—where the background check system itself failed. In that case, if you remember, the Air Force had failed to let the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) know that the man in question shouldn’t be able to own a gun.
The Congressional Western Caucus was quick to say the bill is as government overreach.
"It should come as no surprise that Speaker’s Pelosi’s first bill of the Congress attempts to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of the American people,” said Caucus Chairman Paul Gosar, of Arizona. “Besides trampling on the Constitution, the only other thing the Pelosi gun grab would accomplish is to make it tougher for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families. House Democrats’ radical agenda is detached from reality. Fortunately, this bill isn’t even worth the paper it was printed on and if it somehow manages to make it through the House and Senate, I am confident it will get a big red veto stamp from President Trump."
His colleague, Doug LaMalfa, from California, echoed the sentiment. “The ill-conceived notion that universal background checks will improve gun safety has been largely disproven. This bill doesn’t take illegal guns off the streets, instead, it makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens and punishes only those who already follow existing gun regulations.”
