WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Senator John Cornyn has announnced that a bipartisan group of US lawmakers had introduced a bill to expand oversight of federal agencies responsible for checking criminal background history for firearms purchases.
"The bill penalizes federal agencies who fail to properly report relevant records and incentivizes states to improve their overall reporting," according to the Cornyn's office press release.
According to Cornyn, federal agencies have been failing to transmit data about domestic abusers and persons who committed criminal offenses into the system.
Fixing reporting gaps, he added, is "a commonsense solution" for the gun control problem in the United States. However, the Republican senator added there is much more that should be done with respect to background checks for gun buyers.
The move comes a week after twenty-three Democrats in the US Senate have introduced legislation to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
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The Texas shooting took place just over a month after the Las Vegas massacre — the deadliest shooting in the US history — and was followed by several other similar incidents, including at a school in California that had occurred earlier this week and left four people dead.
Most firearms restrictions have been opposed by the National Rifle Association lobby, which is concerned that these measures would be a step toward outlawing all private gun ownership, with pro-gun groups often citing the Second Amendment to the US Constitution which guarantees the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.
