Senate Democrats push major federal gun control initiative

Senate Democrats this week proposed a major new federal gun control policy, one that would significantly constrain firearm purchasing in the country via a licensing scheme under the Department of Justice.

The bill, referred to as the “Federal Firearm Licensing Act,” would establish “a Federal system for issuing a Federal firearm license to eligible individuals for firearms transferred to such individual[s].”

The law would institute federally mandated training and certification requirements, with licenses to be issued via the U.S. Attorney General’s office. Each of those licenses would “be valid for the purchase of a single firearm, which shall be purchased not later than 30 days after the date on which the license is issued.”

Licenses would expire five years after being issued. 

Democrats have pushed for much heavier federal regulation on guns for years, insisting that stricter gun laws would preempt the mass shootings that mass murderers have periodically carried out around the country.