Washington, DC — (RI) — US Senator Joni Ernst doesn’t put much faith in gun control legislation which passed the US House on Wednesday ever seeing the light of day in the Senate. The bill would require background checks for virtually all sales of firearms nationwide.
Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, questions the intent of the legislation, which was pushed through the Democratic-majority House.
Under current law, background checks only have to be done by licensed gun dealers, not those who are unlicensed. The House bill would require background checks by both. Ernst served in the Iowa Army National Guard for 22 years and is the first female combat veteran elected to the US Senate. She remains skeptical of the first gun control legislation to pass the House in more than two decades.
Iowa Congressman Steve King, a Republican, voted against what he called “a resolution that seeks to place unconstitutional restrictions on the God-given, 2nd Amendment Right to Bear Arms enshrined for all Americans in our Constitution.” King urged President Trump to veto the bill, should it reach his desk. Iowa Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer, a Democrat, voted for the Background Checks Act of 2019. In a statement, Finkenauer said: “It’s long past time Congress came together to pass a bipartisan bill addressing gun violence.”
