PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced that she has filed a new bill that, if passed, would mandate background checks on ammunition purchases.
With the March For Our Lives protest fresh on her mind, Wasserman Schultz said her heart is filled with hope.
“I can assure you that Saturday was day one. Saturday was a launch pad,” she said.
Just before the trip, Wasserman Schultz introduced the Ammunition Background Check Act of 2018.
“Federal law does not require a background check for ammunition. This is just such a gaping and grave and dangerous loophole that I could not wrap my mind around it when I was told that was the case,” she said. “Ammunition sellers across the country currently have no way to determine if a potential buyer is legal or if they are prohibited from buying bullets, which are, obviously, what kills after a gun is fired.”
Wasserman Schultz said the bill would require ammunition buyers to undergo instant background checks using the FBI national instant background system.
She says closing this loophole won’t by itself end senseless mass shootings, but that it is about putting another obstacle in the way of a person who wants to do harm.
Among those supporting the bill are the Broward County mayor, the Pembroke Pines mayor, and a host of students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Seventeen people were killed in a shooting at the school on Feb. 14.
“We are looking at these laws with an eagle’s eye,” said student Mai Ling.
Ling was among those students who supported the nationwide protest.
Wasserman Schultz introduced the bill along with Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. She said the bill already has 36 cosponsors at the moment — all Democrats — but she is confident that she can gather Republican support as well.
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