Frustrated with the Trump administration’s decision to categorize gun stores as “essential,” gun control groups and Democratic U.S. Senators are hoping to keep firearms out of American hands by indefinitely extending wait times for gun purchases.
Everytown for Gun Safety issued a “guidance” letter to state governors asking them to prohibit the automatic transfer of firearms if the Federal Bureau of Investigation cannot complete a background check within three business days. Everytown argues that the FBI will not be able to handle the influx of new gun owners purchasing firearms in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
“As America’s governors move heaven and earth to free up hospital beds for COVID-19 victims, they shouldn’t have to worry about how many of those beds will be taken by gunshot victims,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “So as gun sales surge, we’re urging governors to extend the background check window and give law enforcement the time they need to complete each and every background check.”
Everytown also praises Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, who issued an executive order on March 20th extending the wait time to 30 days for state and federal law enforcement to complete a background check.
SEE ALSO: Clay’s COVID-19 Gun Buying Guide for Noobs Part II: Holsters & Slings
A group of Democratic U.S. Senators also sent a letter to the leaders of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, urging them to tell gun stores to wait until a background check has been completed before transferring a firearm.
“Guidance should urge FFLs to wait for NICS to complete those background checks before transferring firearms, and remind FFLs of their obligations under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b), (d), and (x) not to transfer firearms to any person whom they know, or have reasonable cause to believe, is prohibited from possessing a firearm,” the letter states.
The letter was signed by senators Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Richard Blumenthal, and Mazie Hirono, among others.
SEE ALSO: Gun Buyers Shatter NICS Background Check Record Amid COVID-19 Panic
Congress included the three-day transfer window in the 1993 Brady Bill to prohibit the FBI from indefinitely delaying a background check and thus revoking-by-bureaucracy someone’s Second Amendment rights. And, as GunsAmerica discovered in our investigation of NFA item delays, the FBI is more than happy to sit on a background check if they don’t have a time frame within which it must be completed.
Along with promoting longer wait times for firearms purchases in the middle of a global pandemic, Everytown includes in their “guidance” a list of additional measures they believe governors should take:
- Educate the public and first-time gun buyers about the risks that come with gun ownership;
- Promote the secure storage of firearms;
- Address the increased risk of suicide by ensuring extreme risk protection orders are designated as “essential” court services;
- Protect families by ensuring domestic violence restraining orders can be sought and issued, and providing continuity of services to victims;
- Ensure essential community gun violence intervention programs can continue to work and give them the critical support they need; and
- Prevent criminals from obtaining the parts to build Ghost Guns
Would someone please tell me what that would accomplish? How many criminals are going to do a background check? Somebody want to tell me that? So you are going to punish the legal guy or gal trying like hell to paint inside the lines, all the while the criminal is laughing his ass off at your own stupidity! The only thing you are hurting is your own political longevity. People will not put up with this communist bullshit! You may think you own the world at the moment, but in two years? With the way you started out? Pissing all over the American people? By the time two years rolls around you may have more than 80 or 90 million people wanting your asses nailed to the barn door! … Food for thought.
FFL retailers ALREADY refuse to “transfer firearms to any person whom they know… is prohibited from possessing a firearm,” whether or not the three-day FBI period has expired!! FFL retailers are held to a very high standard about “prohibited persons,” as it is!
Those worthless socialist idiots need to be shown the door, unceremoniously bounced across the parking lot, and NEVER again be allowed anywhere near Congress. Period.
Every time these type of activities occur, it simply makes me more resolved to never, ever vote for a Democrat politician for any office. Additionally, I usually take out my credit card and make another donation to the GOA, the NRA, or the TSRA (Texas State Rifle Association), as well as, any politicians running against incumbents that are dimorats. Democrats are the worst anti-American, socialist scum.
I am against wait times which would be unnecessary if we had universal background checks coupled mental health checks before a gun license to purchase would be issued.
Gun licenses are a stupid idea in a country where the right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the law of the land. Do we license voting? Do we license religious practices? Do we license political speech? Why can’t government issued IDs just have an indicator on them when the ID holder is not allowed to legally own firearms? Leave the rest of us alone to live our lives in peace.
YOU….AGAIN? What country do you live in? It sure is not The United States of America! If you did live in the US of A you would understand that the tax paying citizen pays enough in taxes, licenses, and fees. There is no reason to pay for a license on a right of the constitution. I’ll tell you what, let’s see what you have paid and your license for your freedom of speech! Turned silent didn’t you….finally.
The left would not be satisfied with a wait time of 100 years.
Not so fast Jaque Strap, we’ve got a fake president who sucks up to communists daily. If I recall, he’s a Republican or should I say Trumplican??? Almost forgot, very few Republicans left. We may have some Rat Democrats as you call them, but we also have Republican/Trumplicans who are in total denial and excuse lies told by Old Bone Spurs daily.
As for who fought to preserve democracy and freedom, I have had friends on both sides, Republicans and Democrats who fought and died for this country. Your rant is baseless and total BS.
Another TDS sufferer. This isn’t about Trump.
Wow!!! I am shocked to see someone actually make sense and have a spine in the comment section of articles like this. Normally it is a bunch of people talking out both sides of their mouth, even more so than politicians. Then you call them on it and there isn’t a response.
They go on and on about the constitution then end their rant with MAGA. Two things that are mutually exclusive. Period. And anyone that is going to come out here and say otherwise… please let me know where I can find a bump stock.
To the clowns who say. “You don’t need a bump stock to shoot fast,” it isn’t about shooting abilities it is about dropping a big steamer on the constitution and setting precedent. Then again what more can you expect from president who literally said “I like taking the guns away early.” “Take the guns first, due process second.”
You MAGA trumpeters support a man who literally just set precedent for the next president to come in with a swipe of the pen ban “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines.”
Oh and by the way most founding fathers were “liberals.”
Now there is NOTHING wrong with being a republican I have lots of conservative views and vote that way but Trump isn’t a republican and will not get my vote.
I understand your position. You are not exclusive relative to people on both sides of the aisle who have lost good people in combat, people who also were on both sides of the aisle. However, in 2016 – I just bet you didn’t vote for Hitlery Clinton! So all too often, in many elections it unfortunately comes down to the lesser of two evils. In this case I have absolutely no doubt the American electoral process came up with the best leader for the time. And I can only presume that the same will happen again this November.
Link to the mayor of Houston telling thugs to take a break.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meMQF4G9D4g
Twenty-five miles to the North of me the Mayor of Houston told criminals to “take a break” from thieving during the Covid 19 crisis. If you have not seen Colion Noir’s video about this you should check it out . Sylvester Turner tells thugs to take a break and then go back to robbing and stealing from hard working folks when the crisis is over.
Baltimore Mayor started that chit. lol
If you think this is anything but a money/fund raising scheme, you would be kidding your self if you believed that was the only problem. The worst thing that could happen to them is for us to loose our second amendment rights, if that was gone they would have nothing and they would have to give up their firearms.
And another thing, what does these elected officials think the people are going to do when they are putting the public at risk by turning out incarcerated into the streets?
I would think a national gun control group has no business asking governors to extend wait times. That is subverting Federal Law. Some governors are going to try it though.
Why do you call these rats Democrats when they are filthy stinking communists. Did you forget that many of us hunted the communist bastards in two separate wars and now the communists are in the homeland as lawmakers, governors, teachers, and CEO’s. Our last president was a communist and he got away with it.
Whats the matter with you people ? We are at war against communist subversion of our Republic and the Constitution yet you play nice with the enemy by calling them Democrats.
Calling these scumbags Democrats is an affront to all who fought to preserve democracy and freedom.
You are just the type of person that wait- purchase laws were and are meant to weed out. Obama was a commie? That is just plainly retarded.
Yeah that’s messed up. He was a globalist Socialist Activist Lawyer. Not a Commy. Jeez.