Usanewsonline.com desk: U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to reintroduce the Background Check Expansion Act, which would expand federal background checks to all gun sales.

The Background Check Expansion Act aims to extend background checks for the sale or transfer of all firearms. The bill would require all unlicensed sellers to conduct background checks, whether they do business online, at gun shows, or out of their home. Under current federal law, unlicensed or private sellers are not required to conduct a background check prior to selling a firearm. Although more than 90 percent of Americans support comprehensive background checks, research indicates that as many as a quarter of all gun sales in the United States may occur without a background check. Exceptions to the legislation would include transfers between law enforcement officers, temporarily loaning firearms for hunting and sporting events, providing firearms as gifts to immediate family members, transferring a firearm as part of an inheritance, or temporarily transferring a firearm for immediate self-defense.

“People shouldn’t be afraid to go to school, work, worship, or get groceries,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Congress must implement commonsense solutions to expand background check requirements for all firearm sales in the United States. I’m proud to reintroduce the Background Check Expansion Act, which is an important step that would prevent dangerous people from purchasing a weapon. I will continue fighting to keep Americans safe from gun violence.”

Senator Gillibrand has consistently worked to protect communities from gun violence. Last year Senator Gillibrand called for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice to work toward the full implementation of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) merchant category code (MCC), which would help with reporting suspicious firearm purchasing patterns that could constitute illegal gun trafficking.

Senator Gillibrand has consistently worked to protect communities from gun violence. Last year, Senator Gillibrand called for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice to work toward the full implementation of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) merchant category code (MCC) for gun and ammunition retailers, which would help law enforcement monitor suspicious firearm purchasing patterns that could constitute illegal gun trafficking.

Senator Gillibrand’s push for the implementation of the new MCC complements her anti-gun trafficking provisions from the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act that were included in the historic gun safety bill signed by President Joe Biden – the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. These measures crack down on individuals who engage in gun trafficking and those who sell or deal trafficked firearms, making gun trafficking a stand-alone federal crime.

In addition to Gillibrand, Schumer, Murphy, Durbin, and Blumenthal, cosponsors of the Background Check Expansion Act in the Senate include U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Edward Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Tom Carper (D-DE), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Patty Murray (D-WA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), and John Fetterman (D-PA).