Legislation introduced to expand background checks on firearms

On the eighth anniversary of the shooting at a constituent event former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords hosted, House Leader Nancy Pelosi and other leaders introduced a new piece of legislation that would expand background checks to all sales of firearms.

That legislation is being called the bipartisan gun background checks act of 2019.

It would expand background checks to all gun sales, making them universal. This means private sales would also require a background check.

Background checks are already the norm at local gun stores.

Local gun experts like Richard Sprague said whenever a customer enters his store to get their hands on a rifle they have to fill out an application.

“It’s a federal affidavit, you date it today’s date. We call and get a background check clearance and we notate the answers from the FBI here on this form. The records are required for us to keep these on file for 20 years,” said Sprague.

This could mean the process would be similar if you were looking to purchase a firearm via Craigslist or even through Pennysaver.

The FBI does a nine-step background check when people try to purchase a firearm in stores.