Release: ARS Proposes Revisions to Expand Background Checks Bill

WASHINGTON – As Congress reconvenes this week after the July 4 holiday, Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) has released more than 15 new provisions that could be incorporated into a bill to expand background checks for gun purchases. The changes concentrate on areas cited by Senators as reasons they could not support the Manchin-Toomey bill, such as examining the nexus between mental health and gun violence, enforcing existing laws, improving the current background check system, and ensuring that expanded background checks don’t pose an unnecessary burden.

“We just wrapped up a weeklong, seven-state tour, traveling from Alaska to North Carolina and hearing from both gun owners and non-gun owners, two groups who overwhelmingly support expanded background checks to make sure guns don’t end up in the wrong hands,” said ARS Executive Director Pia Carusone. “We’ve been listening to the concerns of Senators and want to work with them to pass a bill that respects our Second Amendment rights while keeping our communities safer. It’s possible to do that with the changes we’ve proposed here, and we look forward to having a conversation with Senators who felt they could not support the bill in its original form.”

Proposed changes include:

• Extending mental health resources to reach more Americans through the Excellence in Mental Health Act, also known as the Stabenow-Blunt amendment.

• Helping local law enforcement stop criminals from breaking gun laws by requiring the FBI to maintain an alert system notifying local and state police when background check denials occur.

• Closing the “terror gap” by allowing the FBI to add known or suspected terrorists to the list of those disqualified from purchasing guns.

• Exempting certain types of gun purchases in some rural areas from federal background checks.

The full pamphlet is attached and can be viewed here.

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