U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde introduced a bill Thursday that would cut the amount of time governments have to conduct background checks on people seeking to buy a firearm.
Called the "Ensuring SAFE-T Act," Clyde's bill would require those background checks to happen within three calendar days of the application. Current law says government has three state business days.
Clyde, a Republican from Jackson County, said some governments used the current law to delay conducting background checks because the coronavirus pandemic closed some state offices. Clyde said those delays deprived people of their Second Amendment rights.
"What we saw during the pandemic, this three business days as the time to respond to a background check, they would interpret that anyway they wanted to," Clyde said. "And basically, they said if there is a state office that is closed, that three-day clock hasn't started yet and that went on indefinitely. So we had people who were denied their Second Amendment rights for weeks and weeks and even months and months."
Clyde said the language of his bill leaves no ambiguity and leaves governments with little room to interpret the law.
" You can't interpret three calendar days as anything other than three calendar days," he said.
Clyde made is comments Friday morning during an interview on WDUN's "Morning Talk with Martha Zoller." He represents the Ninth Congressional District, which includes Gainesville and much of Northeast Georgia.
The bill has numerous co-sponsors, including fellow Georgian, Rep. Jody Hice, R-Greensboro.
The bill, HR 1767, will be assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. Clyde hopes the bill will pass out of committee so the full House can consider and pass it. It would then go to the Senate.
"It's not going to be an easy path, I'll tell you that," he said. "With the Democrats in charge, they've not made anything easy for the Republican."
The Ensuring SAFE-T Act is an acronym for Ensuring Second Amendment Freedoms are Executed Timely Act.
