Democrats on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee have unveiled a gun control legislative package that they plan to mark up Thursday morning.
The package, named the Protecting Our Kids Act, is made up of eight bills related to gun control, all first introduced in 2021 by Democratic lawmakers. Only one had any Republican co-sponsors, and it’s unlikely the package will find much GOP support.
Horrific mass shootings this month in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas have propelled the White House and Democrats to push for some type of gun control legislation. While this package will likely pass the House, it’s expected to go nowhere in the evenly divided Senate. A small group of bipartisan senators is working on some type of gun control legislation, but no bill has been unveiled.
None of the bills to be debated in the House would ban assault-style weapons, which were used in the New York and Texas shootings. One measure does bar the purchase of certain semiautomatic rifles by anyone under the age of 21. Others deal with gun trafficking, gun storage and so-called ghost guns.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said on Twitter that the House separately will take up Georgia Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath’s “red flag” bill this month. Red flag laws allow the courts or law enforcement to temporarily remove a firearm from an individual who is adjudged to pose a threat to themselves or others.
The House Judiciary markup is at 10 a.m. Thursday and can be watched here.
Here are the eight bills combined in the House Judiciary package:
Bill: H.R.3015: Raise the Age Act
Introduced by Rep. Anthony Brown, Democrat of Maryland.
This bill would prohibit the sale of certain semiautomatic rifles to anyone under 21. Currently, a person needs to be 18 to purchase one.
There are exceptions under the bill. They would include members of the armed forces or a full-time employee of the U.S. government who is authorized to carry a firearm.
This bill had two Republican co-sponsors, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Bill: H.R. 2280: Prevent Gun Trafficking Act
Introduced by Rep. Robin Kelly, Democrat of Illinois.
This bill would establish a new federal penalty for gun trafficking, which could range from a fine to up to 10 years in prison. The bill also allows for the seizure of firearms and ammunition involved in the offense.
It would also be “unlawful to sell or dispose of a firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reason to believe that the person intends to sell or dispose of the firearm in violation of a federal law, or to sell or dispose of the firearm to a person in another state in violation of that state’s law.”
This measure had no Republican co-sponsors.
Bill: H.R. 3088: The Untraceable Firearms Act
Introduced by Rep. David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island.
This bill aims to curb ghost guns, which are homemade guns that lack a serial number, making it difficult for law enforcement to trace the owner of the weapon if it’s found at a crime scene. The Biden administration directed the Justice Department to issue a final rule to ban manufacturers from making ghost gun kits.
The measure would require that all firearms need to be traceable, including guns that are made with a 3D printer. Only gun manufacturers are allowed to issue a serial number for a firearm, according to the bill.
In terms of penalties, a first violation of this law would result in a fine, no more than a year in prison, or both. If there is a repeat offense, a person would be fined, serve up to five years in prison, or both.
This bill had no Republican co-sponsors.
Bill: H.R. 748: Ethan’s Law
Introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut.
This bill aims to regulate the storage of firearms, particularly in homes with children, by setting federal, state and tribal requirements. The bill establishes “requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm.”
A person could be fined up to $500, per violation, and if a minor or someone who does not possess a firearm obtains a firearm in the home and is injured or causes injury, the person to whom the firearm belongs can be fined, imprisoned for up to five years, or both.
There were no Republican co-sponsors to this bill.
Bill: H.R. 6370: The Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act
Introduced by Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan.
This bill would establish federal requirements for the storage of firearms on residential properties. The bill would make it unlawful if a person who has a firearm “knows, or reasonably should know, that a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the parent or guardian,” and if “a minor obtains the firearm and uses the firearm in the commission of a crime or causes injury or death to such minor, or any other individual.”
There were no Democratic or Republican co-sponsors for this bill.
Bill: H.R. 130: The Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act
Introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Democrat of Texas.
This bill would establish federal requirements for firearms and ammunition on residential properties by requiring firearms and ammunition to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission to the firearm.
The firearms would need to be secured, unloaded and separated in a safe and locked, or the firearms would need to be off the residential property and stored at a storage facility or gun range. The bill would also require those safes and storage facilities to be certified by the Department of Justice.
If someone violates this law in connection with a civil charge, and there is no discharge of the firearm, they can be fined up to $5,000.
If someone violates this law in a criminal action, and there is a discharge of the firearm, they would be fined a minimum of $50,000 and no more than $100,000, imprisoned for no more than 20 years, or both.
There were no Republican co-sponsors to this bill.
Bill: H.R. 5427: Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act
Introduced by Rep. Dina Titus, Democrat of Nevada.
This bill would classify bump stocks as machine guns and require them to be registered under the National Firearms Act and prevents the manufacture, sale, or possession of new bump stocks for civilian use.
A bump stock allows “a semiautomatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter,” according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
There were no Republican co-sponsors to this bill.
Bill: H.R. 2510: The Keep Americans Safe Act
Introduced by Rep. Ted Deutch, Democrat of Florida.
This bill would make it unlawful for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, which can be a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of more than 10 rounds of ammunition. However, the bill allows existing magazines to be “grandfathered” in, so they can still be held in possession, but prohibits the sale or transfer of “grandfathered” large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
This bill also allows for the use of funds from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program for buy-back programs for such devices. Individuals who surrender a LCAFD under a buy-back program receive compensation.
There were no Republican co-sponsors to this bill.
This article was written by Maryland Matters, read more stories like this here.
Photo: Democrats in the U.S. House will move forward on a package of gun control bills Thursday, though the measures are unlikely to see success in the evenly divide U.S. Senate. Photo from the Architect of the U.S. Capitol.
