Because I love you, dear readers, I spent Monday afternoon roaming Capitol Hill for details about the bipartisan House background check bill, introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), who soon picked up Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) as a cosponsor.
Thompson’s press officer confirmed yesterday that it is a word-for-word clone of the Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks at the heart of Senate Democrats’ recent gun control push. He said the bill had 179 co-sponsors at last count, with King in the lead as a member of the majority party. However, the legislation is no longer in its creators’ hands.
It was referred weeks ago to the House Judiciary Committee, which must now decide when to take it up for debate and markup. Thompson’s press officer said he hoped the bill would be voted on within a month, but given the lack of Republican enthusiasm for background checks, the prioritization of various White House scandals, and other looming policy debates, whether this will happen remains unclear to say the least. I’ll keep posting new information as it comes in.
