On Thursday Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced a new gun control bill which centers on background checks for gun purchases.
The bill was also signed by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Dean Heller (R-NV).
Fox News Congressional reporter Chad Pergram tweeted that the bill is designed to “strengthen the background check system” in the wake of the Texas church attack.
The Texas church attacker passed a background check for his gun, although he had a conviction that should have prevented gun possession. He received his conviction via a court-martial while in the Air Force but NPR reported that the Air Force “mishandled” the matter by failing to report it to the National Instant Background Check System (NICS), which is the system through which background checks are conducted.
The Air Force investigation into where and how the breakdown on information reporting occurred is still underway. In the meantime, Sens. Cornyn, Murphy, Feinstein, Blumenthal, Shaheen, Hatch, and Heller are pushing for a new law.
Murphy is ecstatic. He tweeted that the legislation is the most significant gun law promoted since Sen. Joe Manchin (D-NW) pushed universal background checks as a response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack:
The Fix NICS Act is the most important piece of bipartisan guns legislation since Manchin-Toomey. 4 Dems, 4 Republicans. Reforms aren't window dressing. Big deal.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 16, 2017
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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