Legislation was recently introduced in Congress that change the longstanding federal law prohibiting handgun sales to out-of-state buyers. The Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act was introduced in the U.S. House last week by Congressman Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican. The bill would remove some federal restrictions on interstate firearms transactions, specifically handguns, along with a host of other changes.
The legislation, filed as H.R.2443, would enable licensed dealers to transfer firearms directly to legally eligible buyers even if they live in a different state. Current federal law adopted in the 1960s bars selling handguns to out-of-state residents. Those who wish to do so currently have to have the pistol or revolver transferred to a licensed dealer in the buyer’s home state as a workaround that typically adds often significant shipping and processing costs — as well as delays — to the sale. The sale of long arms such as rifles and shotguns have no such restrictions.
Second Amendment groups argue the ban on interstate handgun sales was adopted decades ago, long before the advent of the National Instant Check System that is now in place, making the law outdated. “Since 1998, moreover, NICS has only grown more comprehensive as states have routinized their automated forwarding of records to the system and computer technology has proliferated and improved,” says the National Rifle Association’s lobbying arm in support of the bill.
by Chris Eger
