Attached here is a policy memo written for my Political Power and American Public Policy course. It is written based on the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R.1446), passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on 11 March 2021. This bill closes the “Charleston loophole,” which refers to gun sales and transfers that proceed automatically if a background check does not produce a definitive result on a customer and the FBI is unable to produce an affirmative result in a period of three days. These transactions are also referred to as “default proceed” sales, and this is referred to as the “Charleston loophole” because a default proceed sale occurred in the case of Dylann Roof, the shooter who killed nine individuals at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, North Carolina. In the policy memo, I encourage lawmakers in the U.S. Senate to move forward and pass the Enhanced Background Checks Act, as this loophole has allowed thousands of gun transfers to proceed to potentially ineligible gun owners, which presents a clear and urgent danger that can be addressed with this legislation.
Kevin Schmidek, Policy Memo — H.R.1446 (Gun Control)