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A significant gun control measure mandating universal background checks passed the Democrat-controlled House Thursday with the help of eight Republicans.

The measures, similar to ones passed by the House in 2019, are again not expected to pass in the Senate. The Democrat-controlled House on Thursday afternoon passed the second of two gun-control measure, extending the review period for background checks by roughly one week. The bipartisan bill, which passed 219-210, would extend the review period for background checks from three to 10 days. Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn introduced the so-called "Charleston loophole" legislation. In 2015, a shooter killed nine people at a Charleston, S.C., church. The FBI said afterward that a background check examiner never saw the shooter’s...

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill expanding background checks on individuals who are seeking to purchase or transfer firearms as top Democrats have vowed to reintroduce gun control measures. “This bill is a critical step toward preventing gun violence and saving lives,” Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) who sponsored the measure known as H.R. 8, as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced the companion bill in the upper chamber. The bill, titled the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, passed 227-203, receiving eight Republican votes and one Democrat vote against. Five Republicans co-sponsored the bill along with several Democrats....

The bill passed by a 237-203 vote with eight Republicans backing the measure and one Democrat voting against. The legislation would implement new background check requirements for gun transfers between private parties. Under current law, unlicensed and private sellers are not required to conduct background checks for gun transfers despite licensed firearm dealers being required to do so. The bill would require “a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer” to first take possession of the gun while a background check is being conducted. The legislation creates an exemption for transfers made as a gift between spouses. While the bill faced...

The U.S. House of Representatives passed universal background check gun control Thursday, criminalizing private gun sales conducted apart from an FBI background check. The legislation, H.R. 8, sponsored by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), passed by a vote of 227 to 203.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, Texas Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke often bellowed on how, if elected president, he wanted to take away your firearms, specifically your “military-style” AR-15 through a mandatory gun buy-back program, something unconstitutional on its face and a direct infringement of the right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment, During the Democratic presidential primary debate on October 15, 2019, the Congressman responded to the question of how he intended to enforce that proposed gun buyback program: Although he hasn’t offered exact specifics on the program, he did share some additional details at the...

Our neighbor to the north doesn’t have a “Second Amendment,” so there is little that gun owners can do if Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau passes his sweeping gun reform legislation. Not only would it ban the ownership of so-called “assault-style” firearms such as AR-15s, but it could allow municipalities to even ban handguns – all handguns regardless of age. In a press conference earlier this month, the Liberal Party PM said he would move forward with a buyback program in the coming months, but also said that the legislation would empower municipalities to restrict storage and transportation of handguns...

Portland Oregon politicians decided to drastically cut the budget for the police department at the end of last year, hoping to make their city streets safer — at least for Antifa and Black Lives Matter. For the rest of the citizens? Not so much. Shootings have skyrocketed — nearly 2 1/2 times higher than the year before. Authorities blame the pandemic. And unemployment. And “systemic racism.” And everything but the 7 percent reduction in the police budget. The cuts with the biggest impact on gun violence included the disbanding of the highly effective Gun Violence Reduction Team. The unit was...

Sen. Joe Manchin, the moderate West Virginia Democrat whose vote the party will almost surely need to pass laws this year, signaled Sunday that he may be open to reforming the filibuster, a procedural rule that requires 60 votes for many measures, effectively dooming most legislation.

One factor could be that just as law-abiding citizens went through legal channels to acquire firearms last year and into 2021, so too have criminals. It could be that criminals fear an armed law-abiding population and are responding in kind. It is also important to note that year-over-year crime rates have been on the decline in recent decades even if 2020 reversed those numbers. At the same time, firearms sales have steadily increased. As a result, it is simply unlikely that the record number of legal firearms sales attributed to the increase in crime. Rather it just seemed criminals kept...

In most cases, you’ll want to focus on either a shotgun or a pistol. Shotguns, especially pump-action shotguns, are generally easy to use, point well, and mostly handle by feel. However, shotguns can be heavier and come with a good amount of recoil. If this is a problem, you might want to go with a handgun instead. No matter what type of firearm you choose, from a revolver to a rifle, you should remember to prioritize two things: recoil and reliability. A gun with lighter recoil is often better for older shooters. Although it may seem counterintuitive, a heavier, larger...

When the Framers put the Bill of Rights into place, they did so assuming that Americans were a fundamentally moral people. John Adams stated that explicitly, saying, "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." One element of this assumption was that the people could be trusted with firearms. Now, though, those in charge of the government presumptively assess Americans as immoral and untrustworthy.Immediately after the Framers created the Union, they passed the ten constitutional amendments that we call the Bill of Rights. The Framers understood these...

Of course, nothing comes close to the cost of a single shell used for the cannon originally designed for the U.S. Navy’s USS Zumwalt, which came in at an estimated $800,000 each and made the gun too expensive to operate. However, there still some are calibers that are so expensive that shooters may want to think twice before ever squeezing the trigger. When shooting these rounds you can expect that it will be a costly day at the range. (Note: many of the prices below could be much higher due to what seem like regional price increases due to the...

Mayor Jim Kenney (D) is responding to Philadelphia’s surge in gun violence by pushing for more gun control laws. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports “294 people” have already been shot in Philadelphia this year, with 76 individuals dying. Kenney blames the violence on what he views as a lack of gun control. He said, “We must stop the unabated flow of guns into our city.” Kenney is interested in laws requiring stolen guns to be reported within a set period of time, licensing requirements for gun owners, and limits on the number of guns Philadelphia residents can purchase. He claimed such...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit yesterday vacated a 2020 decision that blocked California's ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. A federal judge in 2019 concluded that the law, which prohibits possession as well as manufacture and sale, was inconsistent with the Second Amendment. Last year a three-judge 9th Circuit panel agreed. Now the full court will rehear Duncan v. Becerra, raising the possibility that the ban will be upheld after all. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the defendant in the lawsuit, welcomed that development. "Large-capacity magazines have been used in many horrific mass...

Gun control groups are playing a “long game” or better put, a “long con,” because they believe they will win in inches not miles. Today it is banning assault rifles, and once they get that they’ll move on. Anyone who actually believes these lobby groups will go away should think again. Not only because these individuals – misguided they may be by some accounts – believe in their cause, but it is an industry now.

President Joe Biden is reportedly considering “every tool” at his disposal to crack down on Second Amendment rights as left-wing activists are pushing him to deal with the issue of gun violence by declaring a national emergency and using executive orders. “Among the executive actions under consideration by the administration is one that would require buyers of so-called ghost guns — homemade or makeshift firearms that lack serial numbers — to undergo background checks,” Politico reported. A White House official told Politico that Biden was considering “every tool at our disposal, including executive actions” to crack down on the Second...

USA Today/ 24/7 Wall Street reported that January sales for firearms in the United States surged 60 percent year-over-year increase with more than 4.1 million guns being sold. Even more impressive is the fact that it marks the largest month since figures started to be recorded in 1998. That follows the 40 percent increase in sales last year, when nearly 40 million guns were purchased – and a large percentage by first-time buyers. It is also worth noting that the data is from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICBCS), which was first introduced...

A gun-rights organization said that President Joe Biden’s gun control proposal would potentially make about 105 million law-abiding gun owners into criminals. “While we can agree that there are several ‘common sense’ and long overdue changes needed to our nation’s gun laws, we firmly believe that the path forward should be focused on supporting and protecting responsible, law-abiding Americans—not criminalizing and punishing them,” the U.S. Concealed Carry Association said in a letter to Biden this week.

I attended a gun show this weekend. Normally, my social activities aren’t worthy of note but this one is because the show spoke so perfectly to who we really are as Americans – and we are not the racist, hate-filled, stupid killers of leftist caricatures. To set the stage, I need to go back to the early-1980s, when a long-time friend of mine confessed to me that he was gay. I wasn’t surprised, having figured out the truth years before. I then told him my greatest fear about his being gay, which was that I would lose him to the...