Following a series of high-profile shootings this summer, many have called on Congress to respond to mounting public pressure and enact new gun regulations after returning from the summer recess.
This week, the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee will take a first step. The Committee is scheduled to mark up several new gun control bills that were introduced earlier this year.
The Three Bills
During , members can offer amendments to each bill, and then debate and vote on those amendments. Here鈥檚 a closer look at each of the three bills the House Judiciary Committee is marking up:
This bill was introduced back in February by Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., who represents Parkland, Florida, including Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a mass shooting in February 2018.
HR 1186 would ban the sale, transfer or possession of any high-capacity magazine (HCM) or other ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. On Aug. 4, a shooter in Dayton, Ohio, killed nine people and injured 27 in just 30 seconds, , which was attached to his AR-15-style weapon.
Since the expired in 2004, there is no federal law banning high-capacity magazines. However, , have passed laws restricting magazine capacity.
Research on the effectiveness of HCM bans is . A 2004 Justice Department highlighted that most murder victims are killed with fewer than 10 shots.
But in 2017 by Michael Siegel at Boston University found that states with high-capacity magazine bans had lower rates of mass shootings.
Introduced in February by Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., this bill would use a federal grant program to incentivize states to pass so-called 鈥渞ed flag鈥� laws. These allow family members and law enforcement to petition the courts to temporarily remove firearms from high-risk individuals. These laws are also called Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., are said to be their own version of such a bill that, like this House bill, would incentivize states to pass ERPO legislation.
There is no federal 鈥渞ed flag鈥� or ERPO law, though 17 states and Washington, D.C., have passed their own versions of .There is limited research on the effects of these laws on gun homicides. However, a recent study found the laws were associated with reducing suicidesin two states that have had them in place for years: . There is also from the University of California, Davis, which finds these laws may help prevent mass shootings.
Introduced in May by Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., this bill would ban gun sales to any person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime or received an enhanced sentence because of hate or bias.
Currently, federal law only bans the sale of guns to people convicted of hate crime felonies. But at least three states have laws that ban sales of guns to people convicted of certain hate crimes: , and .
There are no studies that specifically look at the effectiveness of these hate crime gun laws and experts estimate that only a small fraction of hate crimes involve misdemeanors. But a recent found that violent misdemeanor laws in general were associated with an almost 30% reduction in gun homicide rates.
What Are The Chances For Any Of These Bills?
These three bills becoming law is unlikely, given the current make-up of the GOP-led Senate, where a filibuster-proof majority is needed for passing new gun laws. passed by the House in February have been languishing in the Senate ever since. However, a federal 鈥渞ed flag鈥� bill could be an exception.
And President Donald Trump could be a game-changer in this debate.
As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , he would not put a gun bill on the Senate floor unless Trump said he would sign it.
And over the weekend, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., on NBC鈥檚 Meet the Press: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to vote on bills on the Senate floor that the President is not willing to sign.鈥� Thus far, Trump has not made clear what, if any, gun legislation he would support.
from July found that 96% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans favor universal background checks that would include private sales. And finds that more than 70% of Americans (and 67% of gun owners) support so-called 鈥渞ed flag鈥� or ERPO laws.
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