The National Rifle Association is expected to score its first big legislative win of the year just two months after the deadliest mass shooting in US history.
The new gun bill will force states with strict gun laws to recognise firearms permits from states with lower thresholds – even if they’re from states that don’t barre convicted stalkers or people with histories of domestic violence.
It has been described as the NRA’s “highest legislative priority in Congress”, and is expected to be pushed through while Washington is consumed by the Russia investigation.
The legislation already has strong support from Republicans in the House of Representatives, and is all but guaranteed to pass through that chamber quickly once a vote is held.
The NRA were one of Donald Trump’s biggest backers during his presidential campaign, backing several candidates locked in highly competitive races.
It poured $50.2 million, or 96 percent of its total outside spending, into these races, and lost only one — an open seat in Nevada, vacated by the Democratic Minority Leader, Harry Reid. It is the same state in which the Vegas shooting occurred earlier this year.
States with strict gun control laws, including concealed carry permits, tend to also have low rates of gun violence.
Of the big states that are well known for their restrictive gun control measures, for instance, New York has just 4.2 firearm deaths per 100,000 people (3rd least), New Jersey has just 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people (6th least), and California has just 7.7 deaths per 100,000 (8th least), according to the Centre for Disease Control data from 2016.
States like Idaho and Montana, on the other hand — both of which are lenient with their gun laws — have relatively high rates of gun death. Idaho had 14.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016 (15th highest rate), while Montana has 19.2 deaths per 100,000 people (the sixth highest rate).
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