“Charleston Loophole” Bill Aims to Delay Gun Purchases Indefinitely
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Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is no strangers to gun owners. He has constantly taken some of the most anti-2A stances we have ever seen. He is constantly sponsoring and authoring bills to further strip us of our rights as it pertains to firearms. His most recent effort is no exception. Senator Blumenthal just introduced a bill to close the so called “Charleston Loophole”.
This is not really a loophole at all, however. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was established in 1993 and is run by the FBI. It was part of the Brady Handgun Violence Act passed as part of massive gun reform that would also result in the “assault weapons” ban a year later. The purpose of this bill was to cut down on gun violence by making gun owners prove their innocence before purchasing a firearm.
We use this phrasing very carefully. This is because this is the only instant in the Bill of Rights where the user of their rights is presumed guilty and is prohibited from exercising their rights. The NICS system was created to “clear” the purchaser of the firearm so they can exercise it. There are problems with this system of course. As with all systems it is not perfect. This is where the “waiting period” comes into play.
If you have a common name (ala John Smith) you might get confused with other similar individuals. The FBI delays the background check of these individuals and takes time to investigate. However, there are millions of background checks run every month on firearm purchases. This is only firearm purchases done through a Federally Licensed Firearms (FFL) dealer. In order to “reduce” the infringement of delaying the purchase of the firearm to the individual, the Brady Bill allowed the firearm to be transferred to the individual after 3 business days (not including the day it is run on).
As an FFL, it is rare to get an actual response from a background check in “delay status”. This is due to the shear volume of background checks that the FBI has to handle. It is impossible for them to go through all of the delays and clear them. More often than not, the firearm is transferred with no answer after the mandate amount of time has passed. This brings us to 2015 in Charleston, SC and a horrific evil shooting that occurred there.
In this case, the FBI and government violated its own laws and allowed the shooter (we do not name mass shooters here at 2 If By Sea Tactical) to take the weapons used after the waiting period expired. That shooting, and all shootings, are an evil that cannot be described. To take a God given right, entrusted to us by our Creator, and use it to violate those of others is beyond pale. However, the response to these crimes cannot be to violate, or outright remove, rights from those who had nothing to do with it.
This has become the great lie, that objects are what motivate others to commit crimes upon others and not ideas, ideology, or just downright evil itself. As we have seen recently in Australia, legislating firearms out of everyday life dos little from stopping those who wish to use them for evil from doing so. While we have the 2nd Amendment here in the United States to help protect against this, that has not stopped some from chipping away at it.
That is what this bill, the Background Check Completion Act, is seeking to do. This would remove the window period that the FBI has to hit and leave it open indefinitely. This will leave millions of people stuck in this limbo status and would create a nearly insurmountable backlog. While no one wants criminals to gain access to firearms, we also need to balance the rights of others too.
This is what makes freedom so dangerous. That is because there is always a danger that someone will abuse their freedoms to harm others. As Charlie Kirk pushed for many times, the answer to abuses of freedom is more freedom. Bills like this, unfortunately, will not stop anything when it comes to criminality. It will only punish the law-abiding gun owners and further delay the exercising of rights.
While federally we do not have a quote on quote mandatory “wait period” in the sense some states like California have. Rest assured bills like this will eventually lead to the creation of mandatory “wait periods” eventually further down the line. These and many others, are things that us gun owners have to constantly guard against as the year flips to 2026.
Here at 2 If By Sea Tactical we strive to bring you the best experience in the firearms world. As we continue to grow the media arm of 2 If By Sea, make sure you keep tuning in to our Youtube Channel @2ifbyseatactical and right here at “The Patriot’s Almanac” to stay informed on the latest happenings in the firearm world! But we are not lawyers, so this isn't legal guidance.
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