The House on Thursday passed a bill that would extend the time for conducting background checks for gun purchases.
The legislation passed 228-198 and would provide up to 20 days for background checks to be completed, up from the current three days. The measure was sponsored by Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., who authored the bill years ago following a mass shooting at a historic black church in Charleston.
That shooter, Dylann Roof, escaped a background check red flag that surfaced after a three-day waiting period.
“We allowed him to get that gun after three days when it was around the fifth day they found the glitch in the system and found him to be ineligible to own a gun,” Clyburn said.
The bill is the second major gun control measure to pass this week, ending nearly two decades of congressional inaction on firearm purchases. The House passed a bill Wednesday to extend background check requirements for gun purchases online and at gun shows.
[Read: Democrats are just getting started on their gun control wish list]
Democrats rejected an amendment by Republicans that would have kept the waiting time at three days for victims of domestic violence. The bill passed mostly along party lines.
Republicans argued the longer waiting period would hinder legal gun ownership by those who may need it most, such as domestic abuse victims.
“It will do nothing to make our communities safer, but will make it harder for law-abiding citizens to exercise their second amendment rights and defend themselves and their families,” said Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
The measure now heads to the Senate but faces a GOP majority that is unlikely to take it up.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday Republicans would be under public pressure to take up gun control legislation. Polls show broad support for expanding background checks.
