NRA hijacks first bipartisan gun bill in years. Now it's too dangerous to pass. 'Fix NICS' would strengthen our gun laws. 'Concealed Carry Reciprocity' would gut them. We'll all be less safe if the gun lobby gets its way.

John Feinblatt | Opinion contributor

Two months. Two horrific mass shootings that rocked America. Then, two gun bills in the House of Representatives.

And one terrible idea from National Rifle Association headquarters.

Leave it to the gun lobby to ruin a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation in Congress.

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There is a bill that is backed broadly in the House and has enough Senate Republican support to beat a filibuster. The “Fix NICS” Act would improve the gun-sale background check system simply by helping ensure that the staffs of federal agencies and states complete a couple more keystrokes and mouse clicks every day and submit more records into the system. It would even incentivize compliance, making it pay for states to do the job. Ultimately, more records in the system would make it less likely that a felon — or another convicted domestic abuser like November’s Texas church shooter — gets a gun and destroys lives.

But some House members decided they had to carry the NRA’s water. Just days before Americans mark five years since the horrifying mass shooting at Sandy Hook School on Dec. 14, 2012, they hijacked this popular, common-sense bill and saddled it with the gun lobby’s top priority, “Concealed Carry Reciprocity.” They paired a sensible, urgently needed solution with the gun lobby’s biggest dream and passed them together, as a package, on Wednesday.

It was a cynical, reckless gambit by the gun lobby and its allies. And it reduced to absurdity the so-called "gun debate" in this Congress.

Talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul. As a package, “Fix NICS” would keep guns from domestic abusers — while “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would force states to allow people to carry concealed guns in public even if they are domestic abusers, have other dangerous histories, or lack even the most basic safety training to carry concealed guns in public.

“Fix NICS” would decrease the chance that the next domestic violence call to which a cop responds involves an abuser with a firearm. “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would leave local police powerless to stop people with dangerous histories from carrying guns.

In short, “Fix NICS” would strengthen our gun laws. “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would eviscerate them. The bad far outweighs the good, and it isn’t a close call.

“Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would gut our gun laws because it would force each state to accept the concealed carry standards of every other state — even states that have weaker standards, or worse, no standards at all. And it would not establish a national standard for who is allowed to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public.

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For example: Some states allow abusive dating partners or people with violence misdemeanor convictions to carry. During the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” last week, the committee chair found himself forced to admit that, yes, the bill would allow violent misdemeanants to carry concealed guns across the country. In addition, 12 states do not require a permit or a background check to carry. Nineteen states do not require any gun safety training in order to carry.

“Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would make those weakest links the law of the land. It would do nothing to improve public safety. In fact, it would make America less safe.

That’s the reason the opposition to “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” is so widespread. The American Prosecutors Association opposes it. So does the U.S. Conference of Mayors. So does the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, which includes many of America’s largest law enforcement organizations.

“Concealed Carry Reciprocity” would force states to allow many people to concealed carry without a permit — a move the American people oppose, too. A Pew survey released in June found 81% of us oppose allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit. (Polling commissioned by Everytown for Gun Safety notably found opposition registering above 85% in a number of red states.)

So, just weeks after two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, and as polls show the American public increasingly demanding stronger gun laws, there were two possible paths for the House. The one it chose was to let NRA headquarters run amok and try to impose its “guns everywhere” vision on America.

The other path, the right path, is still an option in the Senate. It should listen to law enforcement and the American people, reject the combined “Concealed Carry Reciprocity” package and pass a clean version of “Fix NICS” to help keep guns out of dangerous hands.

John Feinblatt is the president of Everytown for Gun Safety. Follow him on Twitter: @JohnFeinblatt