As Democrats are set to control the House of Representatives next year, they say one of their first agendas will be to introduce a new set of gun control bills, especially in wake of the Thousand Oaks, California mass shooting that killed twelve people.
Current House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNN she plans on introducing "bipartisan legislation to have common sense background checks.”
Responding to the shooting that left 12 dead in her home state of California, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says there is "bipartisan legislation to have common sense background checks" pic.twitter.com/3w9xlPvHcE
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 9, 2018
“It doesn’t cover everything,” Pelosi admitted. “But it will save many lives.”
She added that current Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) did not bring the bill to the floor because he knew it would pass, but, “This will be a priority for us going into the next Congress.”
The problem with Pelosi saying she wants to have universal background checks to prevent incidents like the Thousand Oaks mass shootings is the gunman passed California's strict gun laws, including a background check.
The Giffords Law Center boasts about California’s many gun laws:
- Requires all gun sales to be processed through a licensed dealer, requiring a background check.
- Requires gun dealers to obtain a state license.
- Bans most assault weapons and .50 caliber rifles, and restricts the sale, transfer, manufacture, and possession of large capacity ammunition magazines.
- Requires all firearms purchasers to obtain a Firearm Safety Certificate, after passing a written test.
- Regulates gun shows in a comprehensive manner.
- Limits purchases of new handguns to one per person per month.
- Prohibits the sale of unsafe handguns that do not incorporate mandatory design safety elements.
- Imposes a ten-day waiting period prior to the sale or transfer of a firearm.
- Maintains permanent records of firearm sales.
- Gives local law enforcement discretion to deny a license to carry a concealed weapon.
- Gives local governments authority to regulate firearms and ammunition, although the state legislature has expressly removed this authority in certain areas.
On their annual scorecard, the Giffords Law Center give the state an “A” and is rated number one out of the fifty states for its “Gun Law Strength.”
On top of the gun laws the Thousand Oaks shooter passed, he also broke at least one gun law by using a magazine that held more than ten rounds to carry out his attack.
“Gun control proponents like Gavin Newsom are irrationally committed to passing more and more laws that just don’t prevent violent people from doing evil things,” Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, said, according to Mercury News. “He and other anti-gun advocates are the embodiment of insanity, doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results.”