March 11 (UPI) -- The House on Thursday passed a pair of measures aimed at tightening background checks on the sale and transfer of firearms.
Lawmakers voted 227-203 to approve the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, which would require background checks on all commercial gun sales, while also voting 219-210 to pass a measure aimed at extending the review period required to purchase a firearm.
"These two pieces of legislation will go a long way in improving gun violence, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Forces, said in a news conference before the bills passed.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act -- headed by Thompson and co-sponsored by Republican lawmakers Fred Upton of Michigan, Chris Smith of New Jersey and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania -- seeks to "utilize the current background checks process" in order to prevent individuals prohibited from possessing a firearm from obtaining one.
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The measure would require a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer or importer to take possession of the gun during private gun transfers while a background check is conducted.
It would also include an exemption for transfers made as gifts between spouses.
Republican Reps. Vern Buchan, Maria Salazar and Carlos Gimenez of Florida, as well as Andrew Garbarino of New York and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois joined Democrats and the bill's three GOP sponsors in voting to pass it, while Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, broke with his party to oppose it.
Many Republicans opposed the legislation saying it left out language requiring that gun dealers alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement if an undocumented immigrant attempts to purchase a gun and arguing it would do little to curb violence.
"We shouldn't need a pandemic to reduce gun violence in this country," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. "The way to do that ought to be through passing commonsense gun safety legislation through Congress to make it harder for deadly firearms to get into the hands of those who cannot bear them responsibly."
The second bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., would seek to close the "Charleston loophole," which allowed shooter Dylann Roof to obtain a gun before killing nine people at a South Carolina church.
Under the law, the review period for conducting background checks before purchasing a firearm would be extended from three days to 10.
Some Republicans, including Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., said that both measures infringe upon the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
"I will not stand by and allow our rights to be stripped away. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that these bills will save lives. However, nothing in them would have stopped any of the recent mass casualty shootings that have occurred in our country," Cline said.
