Record-Bee: Thompson voices support for executive action

WASHINGTON, D.C. >> U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, was at the White House Tuesday as President Obama announced executive actions to reduce and prevent gun violence.

“It was an honor to join President Obama today as he announced commonsense steps that will reduce gun violence and save lives. These actions are focused on one main thing: keeping guns away from people who shouldn’t have them – criminals, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill. Law abiding gun owners will not be impacted, and the communities in which we all live will be made safer,” said Thompson.

The executive actions announced eliminate the ambiguity surrounding the term: “engaged in the business” as it pertains to federally licensed firearms dealers. Under current law, only licensed gun dealers are required to perform background checks for all gun sales, and only those individuals deemed to be “engaged in the business” of dealing in guns are required to obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The executive actions clarify the term to state that anyone making a profit from the sale of guns, regularly making gun sales, and/or earning their livelihood from gun sales is “engaged in the business” and therefore must obtain a license and conduct criminal background checks, even if at a gun show or over the internet.

Thompson sent a letter signed by 114 of his colleagues to the White House in November 2015 urging the President to close the background check loophole through executive action.

In March 2015 a coalition of U.S. House members introduced H.R. 1217, the bipartisan King-Thompson background check legislation, officially known as the Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2015.

The bill, authored by Thompson and Pete King (R-NY), expands the existing background check system to cover all commercial firearm sales, including those at gun shows, over the internet or in classified ads while providing reasonable exceptions for family and friend transfers. The King-Thompson bill was co-authored by Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Pat Meehan (R-PA), Bob Dold, (R-IL), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) and Kathleen Rice (D-NY).