In recent weeks, the newly elected U.S. House has passed two modest yet momentous gun-control bills. The two bills, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act, both focus on background checks. While unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, the measures are the first gun-control legislation passed by either body of Congress since 1994.
Let’s be careful not to allow this legislation to be sensationalized. These proposed laws are not intended to “take away your guns,” as some looking to cause confusion may want you to believe. They truly are modest measures. The Bipartisan Background Checks Act would require background checks for all firearm sales, including those between private parties. And the Enhanced Background Checks Act extends the time available to the FBI to conduct background checks from the current allowance of three days to 10 days.
So when you inevitably hear that as a result of recently proposed gun control legislation the government is “coming for your guns,” you’ll know this isn’t the case. These measures aren’t intended to take away guns from anyone but to ensure that guns are used safely and responsibly.
And given that nearly 40,000 people died in shootings in 2017, and gun deaths are at their highest level in 20 years, it’s hard to understand how laws intended to ensure safe and responsible use of firearms could be seen as anything other than prudent (and long overdue).
CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT
Concord