https://www.readingeagle.com/news/ar...cks-on-bullets

The background checks for ammunition would work the same way as background checks for firearms.
Written by Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — Last month, Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a plan to expand background checks on gun purchases.

Now, Parkland parent Fred Guttenberg and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz are offering a new plan to require universal background checks on ammunition purchases. The bill is named after Guttenberg's daughter Jaime, one of 17 students and staff killed on Valentine's Day last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

“We have a gun violence death rate in this country right now of approximately 40,000 per year. It is not normal,” Guttenberg said. “In the time that we do this press conference, somebody will learn they are a victim of gun violence, somebody will be buried who is a victim of gun violence and somebody will be planning the funeral for a victim of gun violence. I am not OK with that.”

The background checks for ammunition would work the same way as background checks for firearms. Every time someone of legal age attempts to purchase ammunition, the buyer would be subject to a background check, which Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said would take 30 seconds to one minute to complete.

Guttenberg acknowledged that the bill's chances of passing the Republican-controlled Senate are low, though he thinks voters in 2020 will punish Senate Republicans who refuse to vote in favor of tighter gun restrictions.

“We're going to remind everyone in the Senate about what happened in the House last election,” Guttenberg said. “A lot of people who were wrong on this issue got fired. Put it up for a vote, pass this legislation, or we'll flip the Senate on this issue.”

Guttenberg allies, including Parkland Rep. Ted Deutch, Connecticut Sens. Murphy and Richard Blumenthal along with March For Our Lives activists, were present at the bill's unveiling on Wednesday.

Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have previously said they don't support bills to expand background checks.