Republicans who voted for a measure to bolster the background check system for gun purchases as part of a House-passed concealed carry bill last year are withholding their predictions on whether the chamber could pass a background check measure on its own.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the sponsor of the “Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017,” says he is “unsure” if his colleagues would support a bill to increase federal agency updates on potential gun buyers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
As lawmakers weigh legislation in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting earlier this month, Hudson is pushing for the Senate to consider his full bill, which includes the Fix NICS Act. He says his bill “protects the rights of law-abiding Americans who want to defend themselves.”
“Frankly, a lot of us, when we hear about the shooting, think, ‘If I were in that situation I’d want to have my weapon,’” Hudson said.
The House in December
passed legislation to allow people to use permits for carrying concealed handguns across state lines, with six centrist Democrats voting with Republicans to approve the bill, which passed two months after a deadly mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip.
Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, has, since the Florida shooting this month, called for lawmakers to pass a bipartisan-backed bill to penalize agencies that fail to report criminal records to the NICS.
While several GOP lawmakers say bolstering the background check system is important, several declined to predict whether the House would act on such a measure by itself.
{mosads}Rep. Steve Russell (R-Okla.), who founded a rifle manufacturing company, called NICS “one of the decade’s proven examples” of preventing people with mental health issues from buying a gun.
“We have to look at the NICS fixes. I think there’s broad bipartisan support for that,” he said.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said not all Republicans would support moving a stand-alone NICS fix bill.
“I think there’s some who won’t [support it], but I think there’s some who would say yes, that’s a reasonable alternative,” Collins told The Hill.
Hudson declined to say whether he would be among those lawmakers who would oppose a stand-alone bill.
“I’m not going to comment on a bill I haven’t read yet,” he said.
Click on the video above to hear the lawmakers in their own words.
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