Breaking: NRA, NSSF Warn Dems Could Move On Gun Control In Days

Both the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation are ringing the alarm bells over impending moves by Democrats to ram through gun control legislation in the House in the coming days. In a tweet on Monday afternoon the NRA issued a warning that Nancy Pelosi plans to take up gun control as early as next week.

Like the NRA, I’ve also heard that Democrats in the House could bypass the Judiciary Committee completely and bring the bill or bills directly to the floor for a vote.

So, what bills are the most likely candidates to be voted on? Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of the NSSF, believes that Rep. Jim Clyburn’s Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 could be part of any gun control package that the House takes up. In a statement, Keane said that if the bill is the same as the version introduced in the previous session of Congress, the organization will be “as opposed to it now” as they were then.

This bill increases the burden on small business firearm retailer owners and flips the burden of proof on its head. This would make it incumbent upon the law-abiding citizen to prove his or her innocence to the government to exercise their Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm instead of the government being responsible for proving an individual is prohibited. This could potentially deny a law-abiding citizen their rights for up to a month, while they are saddled with the burden of proving their innocence. That’s un-American.

“Rather than placing further burdens on retailers and law-abiding gun owners, Congress should focus on adequately resourcing NICS. NSSF is the only organization that has successfully advocated for NICS to have the necessary resources to perform its mission in a timely manner.”

This is not a “universal background check bill,” but rather legislation that would allow the FBI to put a hold of up to 30 days on the transfer of a firearm, instead of the three currently allowed by law.

However, I’ve also heard from some sources on the Hill that a universal background check measure could also be introduced next week. At the moment, we have no idea what exactly Nancy Pelosi may try to ram through the House, but it appears as if we could see more than one piece of anti-gun legislation on the House floor with a matter of days.

Gun control groups have been pressuring Joe Biden to start moving on his gun control agenda, and I’ve thought for some time that it might be the next priority after the COVID relief bill gets to his desk. I have to admit, though, that I assumed Biden would issue executive actions rather than try to go to Congress first, given the uncertainty of success in the Senate, where Democrats would need to get 60 votes to secure passage. Howver, it’s also possible that Biden will sign one or more executive orders to coincide with the introduction of gun control legislation in the House.

A background check bill will certainly get the support of Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, along with Republican Pat Toomey, but after that the math gets a little fuzzy for Chuck Schumer. He might be able to bring Susan Collins along, but I don’t know if Lisa Murkowski would be on board. After all, trying to abide by (much less enforce) a universal background check law in Alaksa would be virtually impossible. No one’s traveling hundreds of miles through the bush just to find...

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