Collins opposes H.R. 1112

“This bill would empower abusers and violent predators by making their victims more vulnerable.”

WASHINGTON — House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-Ga.) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives today in opposition to H.R. 1112. This week, Collins also introduced H.R. 1339, the Mass Violence Prevention Act, to prevent firearm violence by improving law enforcement response to potential threats and reducing the flow of firearms through illegal street sales. Below are the remarks as prepared: Ranking Member Doug Collins: Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Just yesterday, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted to criminalize the transfer of a firearm between two law-abiding citizens. Today, they further reveal their true colors by bringing up a bill that could prohibit law-abiding citizens from ever being able to acquire firearms. That’s not hyperbole. That’s a fact. Allow me to briefly explain how that could come to pass. Let’s walk through the mechanics of this misguided legislation. Let’s start at the beginning of this month. Assume I went into a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) to purchase a firearm on Friday, February 1 of this month. Under H.R. 1112, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has 10 business days to respond to the FFL. The tenth business day is Friday February 15. If, after those 10 business days, NICS does not approve the transfer, I must file a petition to the Department of Justice certifying that I have no reason to believe I am prohibited by federal, state or local law from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Once that petition is filed, the NICS system has an additional 10 business days to make a determination. That would be Monday, March 5 in our example because February 18 was a federal holiday and not a business day. If, at the conclusion of the 20-business-days waiting period, NICS does not deny the transfer, I could then acquire the firearm. But wait. Under existing law, a NICS background check is only valid for 30 calendar days from the date it is initiated. Under our example, that would be Saturday, March 2, which is two days before my petition is required to be acted upon. At that point, I would be required to start the process over again. There could be no end to this cycle. My constitutional rights could be deferred indefinitely. Now, I’m not sure if HR 1112 was written this way out of incompetence or malice. I’ll let the American people decide on that. However, as I noted yesterday, Democrats rushed H.R. 8 to the floor, without bothering to fix several very basic issues. We also know, however, after President Trump declared a state of emergency on the border, Democrats — including the Speaker of the House — indicated that a future Democrat president could declare a state of emergency on firearm violence. H.R. 1112 would allow that president to indefinitely and perpetually delay the transfer of firearms to law-abiding citizens. Perhaps that’s the true intention of this bill. Keep in mind, under current law, an FFL has the option to transfer the firearm after three business days, unless the transfer has been denied by NICS. I would contend three days is not instant and a month is anything but instant, particularly as technology continues to advance. These laws have real world consequences, and we’ve seen these consequences. Carol Bowne was a New Jersey resident with a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend. Her application for a firearm took longer than 40 days to process, and he stabbed her to death while she was waiting to protect herself legally. This bill would empower abusers and violent predators by making their victims more vulnerable. Mr. Speaker, oppose this absurd legislation. It will do nothing to make our communities safer, but it will make it harder for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights to defend themselves and their families. I reserve the balance of my time.