Malinowski Urges Senate to pass the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019

Today the House passed H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, with bipartisan support.  This bill will close the “Charleston Loophole”, which allows the sale of a firearm to move forward if a background check is not completed within three business days.

This weakness in the law was revealed in 2015, when Dylann Roof walked into a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and murdered nine innocent people with a gun he was legally prohibited from owning. He had obtained the gun because the FBI was unable to complete his background check until two days after the current three day deadline.

“It is absurd to have a criminal background check system in America that does not allow law enforcement enough time to keep guns out of the hands of people who are intent on harming others or themselves,” Malinowski said. “After years of shameful inaction in the Congress, the House said today that enough is enough. I urge the Senate to pass this legislation, and finally close a loophole that never should have existed in the first place.”