Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, Newtown, Parkland, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Charleston, the attack on our former colleague, Gabrielle Giffords, these are all tragedies that would not have been prevented by H.R. 8 or H.R. 1446.
My colleagues across the aisle don't want to admit it, but every commercial gun sale in America already requires a background check.
In Charleston, there was no loophole. The problem was information sharing. If the FBI had checked all available databases, then Dylan Roof wouldn't have been allowed to purchase a firearm. Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina has a bill to fix that.
Republicans are serious about ending gun violence and have brought forward policies that protect public safety without eroding our Second Amendment rights.
That is why in recent years we have passed measures like the STOP School Violence Act, the Fix NICS Act, and 21st Century Cures Act.
The bills before us this week would not build upon this progress but strips away from law-abiding citizens their rights.
H.R. 8 would turn law-abiding citizens into criminals if you store a gun for a friend or loan a firearm to a neighbor with an abusive ex who wanted to borrow it for self-protection.
Even worse, H.R. 1446 would extend the waiting period for a firearms sale from 3 to 10 business days and allow the government to delay a transfer indefinitely. Indefinitely, as in forever, if a government bureaucrat says so.
Instead of these gun-grabbing bills, House Republicans are bringing forward targeted solutions. That is why I introduced the STOP II: Classrooms Over Conference Rooms Act to double funding for the STOP School Violence Act to harden schools, to get more mental health resources in schools, and increase active-shooter training for law enforcement. And we pay for it by taking money set aside for the Department of Education to rent conference rooms in Washington, D.C.
However, the left is determined to take away your rights, after voting to defund the police just last week.
It is no wonder gun sales and concealed carry permits are at all-time highs. These law-abiding Americans deserve to have their rights protected.
That is why today, I am calling on my colleagues across the aisle to stand up for law-abiding citizens and adopt H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
H.R. 38 is a bipartisan and commonsense bill that ensures people like Shaneen Allen, a single mother from south Philly, don't become criminals for carrying a legally owned firearm across an invisible State line.
We need H.R. 38 more than ever. And if my colleagues are determined to pass gun legislation, then let's help people protect themselves.
Mr. Speaker, if we adopt the motion to recommit today, we will instruct the Judiciary Committee to consider my amendment to H.R. 1446 to include my bill, H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HUDSON. Madam Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. HUDSON. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source