On Monday, Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-05), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, introduced a discharge petition that would force a vote on the bipartisan Thompson-King Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act.
This bill provides resources to help states strengthen and expand the background checks system and closes a number of gun sale loopholes.
Text of the discharge petition can be found by clicking here: http://clerk.house.gov/115/lrc/pd/petitions/DisPet0006.xml.
“Every member of Congress knows that we must take action to prevent gun violence. Though we may not all agree on everything, we agree that we must expand background checks,” said Thompson. “Today, I filed a discharge petition on the bipartisan background checks bill that would strengthen background checks systems in states across our nation. This bill is bipartisan and should have a vote immediately. Each day 30 people die are killed by someone using a gun and we cannot let another day pass without action.”
A discharge petition is procedure that helps to force widely supported pieces of legislation to the floor.
If a majority of members of Congress sign the petition, it is brought to the floor without the approval of the Speaker.
This procedure allows the House to take up bills that are supported by the majority of the country but blocked by Republican leaders.
Thompson introduces petition to force vote on background checks bill
- Lake County News reports
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