U.S. House passes gun-control bills; Blumenthal says GOP will ‘pay a price’ if they vote it down in Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a pair of gun-control bills, with Connecticut”™s two Democratic senators saying they expect the Senate to follow suit.

H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed by a 227-203 margin, with eight Republicans voting for it and one Democrat voting against it.

It would expand verifications for all firearm sales or transfers in the country. Presently those background checks are not required for sales and transfers by unlicensed and private sellers.

Later today, H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, passed by a 218-210 margin, with two Republicans voting for it and two Democrats voting against it. That bill would eliminate the ability of some licensed gun sales to be finalized before the required check is completed. That practice is known as the “Charleston Loophole,” in reference to what took place when Dylann Roof bought a firearm to kill nine people in a Charleston, South Carolina church in 2015.

Presently the law allows three days for officials to complete a background check; if it is not completed by that time, the sale may go through.

At a press conference before the votes took place, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said the bills represent “an idea whose time has come.” He cited the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 Act, introduced one month after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six adults. That bill was defeated in the Senate by a 60-40 vote on April 17, 2013, resulting in cries of “Shame on you” from the gallery, Blumenthal said.

Republicans “will pay a price” if they do not pass the legislation in the Senate, Blumenthal warned. “People are not only supportive, they”™re willing to vote based on this issue.”

In addition, “We now have a president who can put pressure on our colleagues.”

“(Senate Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell spent the last five years trying to avoid a vote on background checks because of the NRA,” Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said.

With the NRA”™s influence now apparently waning ”“ it filed for bankruptcy earlier this year ”“ and 90% of the general public in support of stricter gun laws according to various national polls, “I think there are a lot of Republicans that are thinking about voting for a proposal that will get them on the right side of this issue.”

Asked if the bills might not face the same fate as the Assault Weapons Ban Act, Murphy said: “We are living in a different world than 2013.”

“Every single one of my colleagues will have to decide whether they are on the side of the gun lobby or the more than 90% of Americans who want Congress to act and save lives,” Murphy added after H.R. 8 passed. “Our constituents will be watching closely.”

Sandy Hook Promise, the nonprofit gun-control advocate group formed in the wake of the elementary school shootings, issued a statement from its cofounder and managing director Mark Barden, who lost a son in those shootings.

“No more families should have to experience the horrific loss of a child to gun violence and we know passing background checks would save so many lives,” Barden said. “We have waited too long. We call on every Senator to simply do their job to protect our communities from gun violence and pass universal background checks immediately.”