We explain what two House bills on firearm background checks would do, and some of the spin coming from both sides.
Facts on the House Gun Bills
Issues: background checks
Trump’s Mixed Record on Gun Control
When asked what he was going to do about the “gun problem,” President Donald Trump responded that “we have done much more than most administrations.” Trump has taken some action to strengthen federal gun control, but his administration also has eased gun restrictions.
A False Claim About H.R. 8 and a ‘Firearms Registry’
A viral meme falsely accuses five House Republicans of voting with Democrats to create a “firearms registry.” The bill in question specifically prohibits “the establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms registry.”
The Gun Debate
Facts on background checks, concealed-carry laws, U.S. gun homicide rate, stolen guns
NRA Chief’s Bogus Background Check Claims
In a speech to conservatives, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre distorted the facts when talking about the federal system for conducting background checks on prospective gun buyers.
NRA’s Ominous But Misleading Appeal
A series of NRA ads employ images of an intruder breaking into the home of a mother home alone with her baby to make the case that Democratic candidates have “voted to take away your gun rights.” But the implication of the jarring imagery goes far beyond the facts.
NRA Misrepresents Police Survey, Legislation
On the day the Senate voted down a series of gun control bills, the National Rifle Association made false and misleading claims in opposing a measure to expand background checks.
Biden Revises NRA History on Background Checks
Vice President Joe Biden exaggerates when he waxes nostalgic about the “good old days” — a time when “everybody, including the NRA, thought background checks made sense.” Biden’s office says he was referring to the NRA’s support for background checks in the early 1990s and its stated support for expanding background checks to include gun shows in 1999.