WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01) reintroduced bicameral legislation to help reduce gun violence in Illinois and across the country.
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The Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act, which Duckworth has been pushing for since 2018, would prohibit the unlicensed ownership and transfer of firearms and direct the U.S. Attorney General to establish and maintain a federal record of sale system and conduct fingerprint-based nationwide criminal background checks. The legislation is named after Blair Holt, a Chicago Julian High School honor student who was gunned down protecting his friend when a gunman opened fire while they were riding home from school on a crowded public transit bus.
“No child should ever be put in a situation where they lose their life protecting a friend from gunfire,” said Duckworth. “This is commonsense legislation that would establish universal background checks and other safety reforms to help prevent dangerous firearms from falling into the wrong hands. For Blair Holt and the countless other victims of gun violence in our country, Congress must put partisanship aside and work together to make our communities safer for our children and prevent these tragedies from ever happening again.”
“We cannot accept a nation where a teenager’s bus ride home becomes a battleground, and where families are left to mourn preventable tragedies,” said Representative Jackson. “Blair Holt’s death is a painful reminder that young people, families, and communities continue to bear the cost of Congress’s failure to act. I am honored to reintroduce this legislation with Senator Duckworth because it reflects our commitment to choose courage over complacency and finally enact the commonsense safeguards our communities have demanded for far too long.”
The Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act is modeled, in part, after the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) statute and specifically would:
- Protect the public against the unreasonable risk of injury and death associated with the unrecorded sale or transfer of qualifying firearms to unlicensed individuals.
- Make sure that owners of qualifying firearms are knowledgeable in the safe use, handling and storage of those firearms.
- Restrict the availability of qualifying firearms to criminals, children and other persons prohibited by federal law from receiving firearms.
- Require universal background checks for all purchases or transfers of firearms.
- Facilitate the tracing of qualifying firearms used in crime by federal and state law enforcement agencies.
Duckworth has been a fierce advocate of getting weapons of war off our streets. Last month, she introduced a resolution marking four years since the horrific Highland Park July 4th shooting. Last Congress, she joined her colleagues in reintroducing an assault weapons ban and in introducing legislation to raise the minimum age to buy assault weapons. She also supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law to help crack down on straw purchasing, expand background checks for buyers under 21 years of age, take steps to close the “boyfriend loophole,” support state red flag laws and offer billions in funding for counseling, mental health, and trauma support for victims of gun violence.
