Senators ‘super close’ to bipartisan gun control deal

The legislation, which is expected to be officially unveiled Thursday, would encourage states to bolster the National Instate Criminal Background Check system to certify all background check information is uploaded, according to NBC News.

The bill, known as the “Fix NICS Act,” would provide options to assist uploading required records, such as requesting federal agencies and states create plans to upload and verify criminal and mental health records that would prevent inappropriate purchasers from buying a weapon.

Additionally, the legislation would provide incentives for states who follow the uploading requirements, such as grants. Conversely, incentives such as withholding political appointees bonuses would be implemented to agencies who fail to comply.

This may be the best way for Congress to move forward after a recent string of mass shootings, sources told NBC News.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., have added their signatures to the bill, the report noted.

While the NBC News report relied on unnamed sources, Murphy teased the coming legislation on Twitter on Wednesday.

“Big news: super close to a bipartisan breakthrough on gun legislation,” he tweeted. “Stay tuned…”

The proposed legislation comes just after a gunman, identified by law enforcement as Devin Patrick Kelley, opened fire on church-goers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, last Sunday, killing 26 people and wounding 20 others. Investigators believe Kelley shot and killed himself after the shooting.

Kelley had served in the Air Force from 2010 to 2014 but was court-martialed for assaulting his wife and stepson in 2012. Ultimately he received a bad conduct discharge and spent one year in prison, and due to a bureaucratic error neither his arrest nor conviction were listed in the national background check database, which should have prevented him from buying the gun used in the shooting.