Fulcher Votes Against Background Checks

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Congressman Fulcher continued his commitment to defend Idahoan’s Second Amendment rights by voting against H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, and H.R. 8 the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.

Congressman Fulcher commented, “I have promised the constituents of Idaho’s First District that I will protect their Second Amendment rights. I voted accordingly on the House floor this week and will continue to do so. I support efforts that will protect Idaho’s most vulnerable, such as President Trump’s STOP School Violence Act, but I do not support adding layers of red tape to Idahoans who have the right to protect themselves.”

These liberal gun control bills would not have stopped many of the past incidences they’re claimed to prevent. Instead, they would criminalize law-abiding citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights by creating a lengthy background check process, and criminalize gun transfers or sales between family and friends, without federal government permission.

For example, under H.R. 8, common practices such as loaning a firearm to family or a friend could result in a punishment of up to a $100,000 fine, or up to one year in jail. Other transfers, for gifting purposes or if a firearm was exchanged for something of value, could also be subject to background checks. In other conditions, these intrusive background checks may eliminate or delay lawful exchanges between family and friends that are troubled by the required background checks by a federally licensed firearms dealer. This would avert dutiful Americans from exercising their constitutional right to own firearms.

H.R. 1446 creates arbitrary delays for law-abiding citizens by increasing the three-day “proceed to sale” from a licensed gun dealer to an unlicensed person to a minimum of 10 business days. If the background check is not completed by the FBI in that timeline, for any reason including administrative errors, the buyer must petition the FBI, which is subject to another 10-day window of time. This bill deprives otherwise compliant citizens of their Second Amendment rights and operates as a de facto prevention of the ability to exercise constitutional rights.