GOP Compromise Unintentionally Creates Universal Firearm Background Checks

Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

Remember the Cornyn-Murphy Compromise that Gun Owners of America and our members warned Congress about? We were loud and clear about how this legislation did nothing to end mass public murders and only infringed on gun owners’ rights.

We attempted to warn elected officials. Nevertheless, Congress rushed to sign gun rights away, including 15 Republican Senators who enabled the passage of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”

Well, President Biden just announced that he’ll be using his “regulatory authority” to implement Universal Background Checks thanks to that bill.

When we told the anti-gunners in Congress how this bill was poison and would just add fuel to the fire for President Biden to go beyond what was written, compromise-hungry swamp monsters didn’t believe us.

Well, we hate to say, “I told you so,” but that’s exactly what happened. The Biden Administration, by their own admission, is going around Congress to infringe on your rights.

President Biden wants to use the expanded definition of “engaged in the business” to force you to file a background check for every single time you purchase a firearm.

According to the White House, the President is directing the Attorney General to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation by supposedly clarifying the statutory definition of who is “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms, as updated by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

It seems that Biden would rather harass law-abiding gun owners who sell as few as just one firearm per year than lock up the criminals who are responsible for gun violence.

For those who are unfamiliar with this fight, President Obama attempted a similar executive order towards the end of his term in 2016. Obama attempted to expand the definition of gun “dealer” to: 

– Restrict private transfers of firearms under the guise of the so-called loopholes “online and at gun shows.”

– Prosecute those who sell even as many as one firearm unless they obtain a Federal Firearms License.

– Punishing this otherwise lawful behavior with “up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000.”

While Biden has just announced his executive order, we currently have no specifics on what that will entail. Obama’s executive order gives us a look into the future of what this rulemaking could potentially look like. 

While the Biden administration may think this move is popular, the support for Universal Background Checks is fake.

The fact is, most people who are polled in these anti-gun surveys don’t fully understand what a Universal Background Check is, or that they’re actually Universal Registration Checks.

According to a survey of 1,000 people done by the Crime Prevention Research Center, 86% say they support background checks on all gun sales or transfers, but as soon as they’re asked follow-up questions which explain how this would look as policy, support starts to drop.

For example, when survey participants were asked a question with context on how the law would affect them, 44% now say they oppose Universal Background Checks, and only 42% say they support them.

Universal Background Checks don’t stop crime or criminals, instead they limit the ability of law-abiding citizens from being able to innocently transfer firearms to each other.

The goal of President Biden’s new backdoor universal background check scheme is to turn as many private citizens as possible who sell their guns into FFLs, restricting their ability to conduct private gun transfers without being recorded in the ATF’s illegal national federal registry. 

Remember, the ATF already has a database of nearly one billion gun and gun owner records in their West Virginia facility.

GOA will do everything in our power to defend your gun rights from this infringement. We’ll lobby Congress, participate in any rulemaking, and challenge it in court when it is published and becomes possible.

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We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.