HR8 |Background Check House Vote Feb 27, 2019

Washington (Gallant Gold Media Hill Report | Perspective | February 25, 2019) – Following HR8’s approval by the Judiciary Committee on February 13, 2019, the Committee has moved one step further in bringing HR8 to the House floor for a full vote this week, barring any unforeseen political conflicts. However, Capitol Hill promises to be a turbulent landscape in the upcoming days, with Representatives being pulled in many important directions. Thus, timing the HR8 vote is critical. We need all the sponsors and supporters to be present for the vote, which will hopefully take place on Thursday, February 28, 2019, the 25 year anniversary of The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the original background check bill) which went into effect on February 28, 1994. Interestingly, the initial background check legislation was first introduced in Congress by NY Representative Chuck Schumer in 1991.

The next few days on the Hill appear extremely busy:

TUESDAY Feb 26 – House vote to nullify Trump’s national emergency
- House Rules Committee Hearing on Migrant Family Separation Policy
- House Financial Services Committee Hearing with Credit Bureau CEO’s testifying
WEDNESDAY Feb 27 – Oversight Committee public hearing with Michael Cohen on Wednesday February 27, which may be the most significant event of the year if the Mueller report isn’t shared with the public
- Full House Vote on HR8 Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019

HR8 now has 232 bipartisan co-sponsors. The significant bipartisan support for the bill stems from 97% of the American public believing strongly that background checks should be required for every single gun sale. Background checks protect the public from those who seek gun ownership with ill intent. HR8 advocates simultaneously believe in the Second Amendment, and do support the right to bear arms, yet understand that common sense gun legislation makes sense. The success of our democracy stems from the fact that it’s stabilized by the rule of law. Borders and boundaries are essential. Evil exists in the world. The first three words of the Second Amendment clearly state: “A well regulated…”

HR8 | Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 Explained: On January 8, 2019 Representative Mike Thompson of California’s 5th District introduced HR8. This simple, common sense gun bill is very basic : To require a background check for every firearm sale. The current background check bill has several significant loopholes that have proven deadly. Guns sold at gun shows, and guns sold among family and friends, currently do not require background checks.

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act requires that before a firearm is purchased through a federally licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer, a background check must be performed. There are a list of nine prohibitions that would prevent approval. The operative words in the Brady Bill are “federally licensed.” Since the majority of sellers at gun shows, and on the streets, as well as family and friends, aren’t federally licensed, a loophole was soon exploited by those falling under the following nine prohibitions:

fugitive from justice
convicted in any court for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison
dishonorably discharged from military
illegal alien
user or addicted to a controlled substance
renounced citizenship
has a restraining order against them
domestic violence, convicted in any court of misdemeanor crime
in a mental institution or adjudicated as mentally defective

HR8 eliminates these existing loopholes, making it far more difficult for those who plot to harm the American public to succeed. The Second Amendment was intended for self-protection, not public annihilation.

CALL to ACTION: Contact your Congressional Representative TODAY to let them know: Yes to HR8.

https://www.house.gov/representatives | Search by name or state, must click the correct box. If not sure of Representative’s name, use the search box on top right of page
Text CHECKS to 644-33