Gun control bill targets sales to criminals

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is looking to crack down on gun dealers that sell firearms to criminals.

The Responsible Transfer of Firearms Act introduced Tuesday would hold gun dealers liable for sales made to people who are prohibited from owning guns. It is the latest gun bill introduced by Democrats that is unlikely to pass through a Republican-controlled Congress.

It would apply to both federally-licensed gun dealers and private sellers.

“As recent tragedies in Virginia and across the country have shown, the gun laws in our country have done little to stem senseless gun violence,” Kaine said in a statement. “These numbing incidents in urban, rural and suburban communities are made worse by the lack of accountability in those instances where the tragedy might have been prevented.”

The gun legislation comes as Congress returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, following the on-air shooting on two television journalists last month in Virginia.

Kaine blamed loose gun laws for allowing firearms dealers to sell guns to people who are prohibited from owning them.

Gun dealers would be required to take “reasonable steps” to ensure the people they sell to are allowed to own firearms under the new legislation, Kaine said.

Kaine didn’t specify what those reasonable steps would be.

“It would hold a seller or transferor of firearms criminally liable should they fail to demonstrate they took reasonable steps to prevent a weapon from falling into prohibited hands,” he said. “Why should someone be able to casually place an illegal firearm in the hands of a felon?”