It is part of a new push from the Democrats after they take control of the Senate.
The House on Thursday passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, a measure requiring universal background checks on all commercial arms sales, part of a renewed push for gun control after Democrats won control of the Senate.
Some Republicans strongly objected to the extensive controls, one of them saying they are “designed to turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.” Despite their criticism, eight Republicans backed the bill, which passed from 227-203.
The universal background check law was introduced in March by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., Who chairs the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, has three GOP co-sponsors.
“These two laws will go a long way in improving gun violence,” Thompson said at a news conference shortly before the bill was passed Thursday morning. Thompson also praised the effectiveness of background checks, while surrounded by lawmakers backing the bill, including Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., Whose son was the victim of gun violence.
The bill is the work of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force created in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The legislation was originally introduced and passed by the House in early 2019, but was never considered by the Republican-controlled Senate.
The House voted 219-210, mostly along party lines, to approve an arms control measure issued by Rep. Jim Clyburn, DS.C was introduced to extend the waiting time for background checks to 10 days. The bill would close the “loophole in the Charleston” that would allow a gun to be sold if a background check has not been conducted for three days.
The name was coined after gunman Dylann Roof was able to obtain a gun through the loophole for a massacre at a Charleston church that killed nine people. Clyburn discussed the bill shortly before it was passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday morning.
“You know, I get a little emotional thinking about the loophole in the Charleston, because there’s nothing more sacred in most people’s lives than their church,” Clyburn said.
“ However, he still shouldn’t have had the gun and the reason he had the gun is that when he went to buy it and the three days had passed, as the current law allows, they didn’t have the information he gave can verify. Clyburn said Wednesday during the debate on the legislation in the House of Representatives. This law would have prevented it [Roof] of getting a gun. “
The bills met with anger from members of the Republican House who did not support extensive background checks. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Said in a tweet that “universal gun background checks are only meant to turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Also objected to Clyburn’s legislation, saying during the House debate on Wednesday that it was not fair.
“Is it fair to surround yourself with armed guards, with Capitol Police having guns, with personnel records, bodyguards and asking people to pay for them while making it harder for those same people to protect themselves? I don’t think that’s fair, ‘said Massie.
After the two bills were introduced, President Joe Biden threw his weight behind the effort, saying in a tweet that he is committed to “implementing gun security reforms with common sense as president.”
While both bills will likely pass in the House, they will face a contentious passage in the Senate’s 50-50 split. While some moderate Democrats and Republicans, such as Sens. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Have filed background checks in the past.
Benjamin Siegel of ABC News contributed to this report.