Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 188, I call up the bill (H.R. 8) to require a background check for every firearm sale, and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on H.R. 8.
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Mr. Speaker, gun violence impacts all of our communities, and no place is immune from its reach, including our homes, our streets, our schools, and even our places of worship. That is why we must take swift and decisive action to reduce the daily toll of gun violence that afflicts our Nation. H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 is sensible and effective legislation to do just that.
Under current law, gun sales conducted by licensed firearms dealers may only be completed if the buyers clear background checks. This bill would simply extend that requirement, with limited exceptions, to guns transferred by unlicensed individuals as well. That simple change to close a gaping loophole in the law is one of the most effective steps we can take to address the scourge of gun violence in this country.
According to one study, 22 percent of gun owners in the U.S. acquired their most recent firearm without a background check. We do not know if they were felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, or otherwise prohibited under the law from possessing firearms. A huge volume of guns was sold with no questions asked. It is time to close this dangerous loophole.
There is no reason to continue to make it easy for people who are legally prohibited from possessing firearms to acquire them. The evidence clearly shows that background checks work and significantly curb gun violence. One study found that a Connecticut law requiring background checks was associated with a 40 percent decline in gun homicides and a 15 percent drop in suicides. On the other hand, when Missouri repealed its background check law, the State's gun homicides increased by 23 percent and suicides increased by 16 percent.
Gun violence of this magnitude is a distinctly American problem. A recent study in the American Journal of Medicine found that compared to 29 other high-income countries, the gun-related murder rate in the United States is 25 times higher. Even when you adjust for population differences, Americans are disproportionately killed by gun violence. This is a disparity that we can remedy by passing this bill.
With the exception of certain limited transfers, such as gifts to family members and transfers for hunting, target shooting, and self- defense, H.R. 8 would extend the current Federal background check requirement--which applies now only to licensed gun dealers--and would require virtually all transactions to undergo a background check to help ensure that firearms do not end up in the wrong hands.
I thank Representative Mike Thompson of California for drafting this important legislation and for being a champion of gun violence prevention in Congress.
Simply put, H.R. 8 will save lives. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and to support safer streets, safer schools, and safer communities.
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, the fact is that 160 families every day buy guns. All this bill does is to say that people who obtain guns from unlicensed dealers, as well as licensed dealers, must be subject to the background check, and that will save a heck of a lot of lives.
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal).
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark)
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly).
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, how much time remains?
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains.
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, since the House passed H.R. 8 more than 2 years ago, an estimated 80,000 people have lost their lives to gun violence. We have had too many moments of silence and too many expressions of sympathy. Too many families are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Expanding background checks is overwhelmingly supported by the American public because they know that it will make a meaningful difference in reducing gun violence and saving lives. It is time to enact this important legislation.
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, that is correct. Amendments En Bloc Offered by Mr. Nadler of New York
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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 188, I offer amendments en bloc.
Mr. Speaker, this en bloc amendment includes several amendments that strengthen the bill and that thoughtfully modify it to account for practical considerations surrounding the use and misuse of firearms.
Among this group are a provision that clarifies the exchange of firearms between family members, a measure to protect more expansive State firearm laws, an amendment that would ensure ATF background check forms are available in Spanish, and a proposal that would allow for temporary transfers for pest control.
Representative Jackson Lee's amendment concerning suicide is particularly important as it highlights the tragic consequences that access to firearms can have on those who intend to harm themselves.
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