House committee weighs mandatory background checks for gun sales

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee spent hours debating a measure Wednesday that would require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers within the United States, the most significant gun-control legislation to be brought before Congress in years. The committee spent more than eight hours debating the bill and appeared poised to take the discourse well into Wednesday night. The measure was among the first actions taken by the newly elected Democratic majority, which pledged to make gun control a top issue. The bill also has the support of at least five Republicans, a rare feat, given that the issue often has cleaved along party lines. Wednesday’s debate comes as Democrats embark on their most aggressive push to enact gun-control laws after years of congressional inaction. The House is slated to vote on several bills in the first 100 days of the legislative session and had its first hearing on a gun-control bill since 2007. It is taking numerous actions this week around the anniversary of the mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school that killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018. “I ask that we work together not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans, to end this silence with action to make all of our communities safer from gun violence,” said Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., who represents Parkland and held a moment of silence on the House floor Wednesday to honor the victims. “I ask that this moment of silence not be in vain.” The Judiciary Committee hearing became a rancorous partisan battle over whether to expand background checks. Republicans offered amendments to the legislation that were voted down by the committee, including one that would make background checks free and another that would allow transfers of firearms to victims of domestic violence

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