Cornyn: Fix NICS Adds New Support in Senate

Yesterday on the Senate floor, I pressed for the passage of his Fix NICS Act, a consensus bill with bipartisan support that will strengthen the criminal background check system. Excerpts of my remarks are below, and video of his remarks can be found here. 

I want to emphasize another point and talk about a new milestone reached and announce some good news. We've now reached 64 total cosponsors for a bill that I've introduced with the junior senator from Connecticut, Senator Murphy, called the Fix NICS which is the background check reform bill that we cosponsored together.

Fix NICS is designed to make sure that convicted felons can't get access to firearms because under current law they are disallowed from doing so. It's designed to make sure that people who commit domestic violence can't buy a firearm because they are currently prohibited by law from doing so.

This bill will save lives. I know my friend, the Minority Leader, has said it is not enough, but if it saves lives, isn't it a good start?

It really is remarkable when you have groups with such widely divergent views when it comes to the Second Amendment come together and say, ‘this is where we can find common ground, this is where we can actually do something.’

I know the Minority Leader, despite his comments here today, does not oppose this bill.

I know there's pressure from those who want more controversial measures to be added, but, frankly, they are ones that can't pass the Senate, much less the House or be signed into law. So I would hope that we would focus. Focus our attention on what is achievable, what is bipartisan, what brings together people at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum and pass the Fix NICS bill.