Republican Lawmakers Seethe Over New Gun Control Laws, Call It A ‘Radical Agenda’

Republican lawmakers are vowing to fight new bills passed by the Democratic-led House that tackle gun control measures, calling the moves an infringement of rights and a “radical agenda” after the pair of measures passed.

The two measures both work to expand the background check period for those who want to purchase a gun. According to Reuters, the first measure, which did receive support from eight Republicans, allowing the bill to pass 227-203, closes a loophole in gun laws that expands background checks when guns are purchased over the internet, at gun shows and through certain private transactions.

According to NPR, that legislation closed what was known as the “Charleston loophole,” which allowed Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. in 2015, to purchase a gun when he was supposed to be barred from doing so. The review period for background checks is now lengthened from three days to last up until 20 days.

The second measure, which passed 219-210 with only two Republicans backing the measure, gives authorities 10 days to complete federal background checks before a gun sale could be licensed. This also expands the period from a previous one that lasted three days.

The two measures are the first to pass regarding gun control since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, though other attempts have been made. This is the first new measure of gun control passed since the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, which banned semiautomatic weapons which looked like assault weapons and had large-capacity ammunition feeding devices. The law expired in 2004.

Democrats want to expand laws to eventually have some form of assault weapons bans again, though they would have a hard battle.

Following the passage, several Republican lawmakers took to social media to object the news, citing the Second Amendment and stating that the measures infringed on the right to bear arms.

Senator Ted Cruz, who will be able to cast a vote on the legislation when it goes to the Senate, quoted the amendment itself, stating that it “shall not be infringed,” meaning that laws against it were unconstitutional.

Rep Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), attacked the measure by stating that it was the wrong measure to take on as a crisis unfolded at the Southern border.

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Montana) referred to it as an overreach on what the government can control, while Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) blamed Democrats for gun violence and riots, stating that taking gun rights away was the wrong way to answer a mess she felt they had made.

Others criticized the measure as part of what they saw as a radical agenda by Democrats and vowing their opposition to it.

Despite their objections, it appears support from the public is more on the Democrats’ side when it comes to more restrictive background checks and measures. An ABC-Washington Post poll in 2019 found that 89% of Americans supported background checks for all gun buyers, 86% supported the seizure of guns from people found dangerous by a judge, 60% supported a ban on ammunition clips with more than 10 bullets and 56% supported a ban on the sale of assault weapons.