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by Causes | 8.17.18

The debate over the extent of Americans’ rights to own and carry firearms under the Second Amendment is one of the most contentious in our politics today. Here’s a look at seven bills to expand gun rights in Congress now.

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H.R. 38 - Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act: Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) introduced this bill to allow individuals to carry a concealed weapon in other states that grant concealed carry licenses as long as they abide by the laws of the state they’re currently in. It was also amended to include the Fix NICS Act ― which aims to improve reporting to the FBI’s background check database ― before it passed the House on a 230-198 vote in December 2017.

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H.R. 6624 - Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act: Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) introduced this bill to allow law-abiding citizens and members of the military to purchase guns from licensed gun dealers in other states as long the transaction complies with the laws of the buyer’s state of residence. Scalise, it should be noted, was shot in the summer of 2017 when a gunman opened fire on a Republican baseball practice.

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H.R. 5112 - SAFER Voter Act: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced this bill to lower the minimum age to buy a handgun from 21 to 18 years, the same age at which a person becomes eligible to vote and an adult in the eyes of the law. Federal law currently prohibits anyone under age 21 from buying a handgun, although they can buy rifles or shotguns.

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H.R. 2097 - ATF Wrongful Reclassification Act: Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced this bill to prohibit the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) from reclassifying certain types of ammunition as being “armor piercing” unless the ammunition is intended by the manufacturer to be used in a handgun. Currently, reclassification of such ammunition is allowed if it “may be used in a handgun.”

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H.R. 367 - Hearing Protection Act: Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) introduced this bill to ease restrictions on the ownership of firearm suppressors (aka silencers) by treating any person who obtains or possesses a silencer as meeting federal registration or licensing requirements. Buyers would have to pass a NICS background check, and would no longer have to pay a transfer tax on silencers ― while preempting state and local taxes on the transfer of silencers. Currently, individuals have to go through an application process with ATF to buy a silencer that can take about nine months.

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S. 1505 - SHUSH Act: Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced this bill which would deregulate silencers at the federal level and eliminate transfer taxes on them at all levels of government. It’d also allow qualified current and retired law enforcement personnel to carry a concealed firearm equipped with a silencer in accordance with state law.

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S. 1397 - Protecting the Second Amendment Act: Former Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) introduced this bill to prohibit federal agencies from imposing reporting requirements on gun dealers based on their geographic location or the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same persons. It’d lift such a reporting requirement imposed by the Obama administration, which requires gun dealers to report purchasers in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas who buy two or more semi-automatic rifles larger than a .22 caliber that can accept a detachable magazine in a five day period. It’s cosponsored by Texas Republican Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.

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— Eric Revell

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(Photo Credit: iStock.com / StephanieFrey)

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