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House debates gun control legislation

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US House of Representatives has begun to debate two bills that would, respectively, expand firearm background checks, and extend the time-frame for conducting background checks on gun purchases, the Washington Examiner reports. Both bills were passed by Democrats in 2019 but the Republican-led Senate discarded them at the time.

The House began to debate the legislation on Tuesday and is expected to vote and pass the bills on Wednesday. However, the bills require a minimum of 60 votes to pass in the Senate, and at least 10 Republican Senators would have to approve it there.

The expanded background check bill would prohibit transferring one’s own gun to someone else unless a licensed dealer has conducted a check on that person, the Examiner reports. This bill does provide certain exceptions for family members and transfers between law enforcement and military. Moreover, the bill allows the transfer of firearms in emergency situations where it is “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” The second bill would expand the window for conducting background checks from three days to 10 days.

According to Democrats, increasing background checks will help to prevent gun violence, including the spate of mass shootings that have devastated Americans in recent years. “Universal criminal background checks legislation is reasonable under the circumstances, given the tragedies that we confront,” Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said in opening the debate.

Republicans say the legislation burdens law-abiding citizens who want to buy guns and will not prevent criminals from accessing guns illegally and carrying out violent acts with them, the Examiner reports.