Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today, I am reintroducing legislation that would help bolster the Nation's background check system for firearms. Under current law, the FBI is forced to remove records from incomplete background checks from their systems if those checks are not finalized within 90 days. As a result, many firearms are sold without completed background checks--a dangerous practice that allows individuals to access a firearm even if they are prohibited by law from possessing such weapons. In 2020, Americans purchased a record number of guns--over 23 million firearms--and this year is expected to set records once again. That record number of purchases is overwhelming our background check system. The large majority of background checks are straightforward and are completed within 3 days, but especially due to the volume of checks required by the increase in gun purchases, some can take significantly longer. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, between March 2020 and July 2020, the FBI was unable to resolve 207,694 background checks within 90 days and was therefore required to wipe the incomplete checks from their systems. Since these background checks were never completed, it is impossible to know how many firearms were transferred to prohibited purchasers. As firearms sales continue to soar, Congress must act to protect public safety by ensuring background checks are completed. This bill would do exactly that.…”