Bill seeks to bolster gun background checks

U.S. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) has introduced a measure designed to bolster the gun background check system.

Officials said the Preventing Pretrial Gun Purchases Act amends federal gun laws as a means of ensuring the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) denies gun sales to any person subject to a pretrial release order from a court.

The bill would prohibit the person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving guns, officials noted, in addition to prohibiting any person from knowingly selling or disposing of a gun to such individuals.

“Our nation is in the midst of a gun epidemic that has destroyed too many communities, ended too many lives, and puts millions of Americans in danger,” Maloney said. “I have had enough. In too many instances, individuals like Jan. 6 defendant Thomas Robertson, who was able to purchase 34 guns despite a release order that barred him from possessing firearms, have circumvented gun laws and court orders by taking advantage of shortcomings in our background check system.”

Present federal law requires firearm licensees to conduct a background check before completing a gun sale to ensure that the buyer is not disqualified from gun ownership.

But legislators acknowledged current law does not prohibit the transfer of firearms to persons who, as a condition of pretrial release, are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms.

“Too often, gaps in federal law enable people to obtain firearms even when they shouldn’t have them,” Adzi Vokhiwa, Federal Affairs director at Giffords, said.
“The Preventing Pretrial Gun Purchases Act will close a vital loophole that enables people to pass a NICS background check even when they are prohibited from possessing guns by a pretrial release court order.”