UPDATE X1: Congressman Darin LaHood and Adam Kinzinger also voted against HR 8. See their statements below:
DC – Wednesday, in a 240 to 190 vote, the US House passed legislation mandating federal criminal background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions. It is unlikely to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Illinois U.S. Congressman Mike Bost released a statement before the vote declaring his opposition to both HR 8 and upcoming HR 1112:
"The gun control legislation being considered this week infringes on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and does absolutely nothing to stop incidents of mass violence,” said Bost.
“As a father and grandfather, I want to reduce gun violence as much as anyone. But these bills make it harder for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and others against criminals who have guns. We need to enforce the laws already on the books rather than limit the rights of law-abiding citizens who want to protect their families. I think Representative Scalise would have been able to get that point across had he been allowed to testify when these bills were under consideration in committee.”
Rep. Scalise, who was seriously injured when a Bernie Sanders' supporter opened fire on Republicans practicing for Congress' annual softball game, was prevented by the ruling Democrats from testifying at the committee hearing.
UPDATE x1: Congressman Darin LaHood voted no on H.R. 8, legislation put forth that undermines the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens while failing to properly address the fundamental issues of gun violence.
“In Illinois, we are subject to some of the strictest state laws in the country in terms of gun regulation. However, the gun violence rate is one of the highest in the country, particularly in Chicago, where residents are restricted to possess firearms. The legislation brought forth today does nothing to curb gun violence,” stated Rep. LaHood. “These bills fail to address mental health issues, fail to prevent criminals from acquiring fire arms, fail to provide the necessary resources for our Justice Department, and ultimately undermine the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. We have laws on the books that need to be enforced, and as we’ve seen, failure to do so has resulted in tragedy. It’s disappointing that Democrats have politicized recent tragedies and put forth legislation that fails to address the root cause of these acts and, instead, punishes law-abiding citizens.”
UPDATE x2: Following the House vote on H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-16) released this statement:
“The gun control measure brought before the House today was introduced with good intentions, but failed to produce meaningful legislation that would actually reduce gun violence. Today, I voted against H.R. 8 because it’s a short-sighted, partisan bill that does little to improve public safety or address the issues that lead to gun violence. Instead, this bill erodes the rights of law-abiding citizens and shows the political posturing of our colleagues across the aisle.
“As a gun-owner, I know the issues we face in protecting our Second Amendment rights while also protecting the security and well-being of our communities. But H.R. 8 would do little to curb illegal firearm transactions and it would not have stopped the mass shootings in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Pulse Nightclub, Las Vegas, and others. This legislation does not tackle the very real institutional failings that have led to these tragedies, and it prevents law-abiding citizens from accessing firearms for self-defense while doing nothing to penalize or deter criminals from engaging in gun violence. The American people deserve better than this, and I’m committed to common-sense measures that improve the safety of law-abiding citizens, fix our systematic flaws, and still protect our constitutional rights.”
In October, 2017, Congressman Kinzinger led an effort to have the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) reevaluate the classification of bump-stock devices under current federal law, and ultimately decide that such mechanisms have no place in civil society.
In March, 2018, Congressman Kinzinger signed on as a cosponsor of H.R. 1625, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018. Included in the package, which became law, is H.R. 4477, the Fix NICS Act, which applies penalties to government agencies for not reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
