The GOP’s hypocritical stance on background checks

Congress was extraordinarily busy this week. A bipartisan group of senators filed a sweeping bill Wednesday that aims to reform and reshape how the nation’s immigration system works.

Later that same day, the Senate defeated a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers, despite widespread support among Americans for such legislation.

What struck me as odd was Republicans’ support for background checks in the immigration bill and yet their fierce opposition to such checks in the context of gun control legislation.

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The GOP is a strong supporter of the provision of the new immigration bill that would expand E-Verify, the controversial program that requires all employers to verify the legal status of potential hires with an enhanced electronic verification system.

But the GOP was staunchly against the background check provision in the gun legislation, presumably because it placed an undue burden on law-abiding American citizens’ right to buy a gun.

Frankly, the GOP’s stance on background checks seems a tad hypocritical. Both bills would presumably place the same burden on law-abiding U.S. citizens.

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