The 2018 Blue Wave, the largest victory by one party in a midterm election in history, is leading the Democratic Party to pass many stellar bills in the House. The two bills are focused on strengthening the federal background check system for firearms purchases, something that has very strong support nationwide regardless of party.
There are two separate issues identified in this post. First are gun dealers selling illegally to individuals who have failed or would fail a background check. Second are individuals lying on background checks and never facing punishment for it which encourages them to keep lying to try to buy a gun.
First, on gun dealers who have a vital role to play in stopping gun crimes. For some, what appears to be missing are the will, the competence and the incentives to play that role well.
This past June marked the one year anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 dead and the second anniversary of the chuch shooting in Charleston where nine were murdered during Bible study. It was also back in June that House Republicans began work on something known as the "Hearing Protection Act."
You are not alone if you had no idea what this is about until now. With this Act, House Republicans are seeking to relax restrictions on firearm silencers making it easier for shooters to shoot without being noticed.
Following the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, a regulation designed to block certain mentally ill people from purchasing firarms was implemented by President Obama, although not taking effect until December 2017. The rule was originally put into place by the President to achieve some small advancement in gun control while Congress refused to act following the Sandy Hook massacre. By a 57-43 margin, the Republican-led Senate voted Wednesday to repeal the regulation which follows the House resolution passed earlier this month.