Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has introduced legislation gun-rights advocates say would function as a de facto federal gun ban, not by outlawing firearms outright, but by allowing the federal government to delay lawful gun purchases indefinitely.
The proposal, misleadingly titled the “Background Check Completion Act,” would eliminate the long-standing federal safeguard that allows a firearm transfer to proceed if the FBI fails to complete a background check within three business days.
Under current law, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is required to act promptly. The three-day limit exists for a reason: to prevent bureaucratic delay from becoming outright prohibition.
Blumenthal’s bill would remove that limit entirely.
Critics say the result is simple and dangerous: a constitutional right that exists only when the federal government decides to answer the phone.
A Right Delayed Is a Right Denied
Gun-rights advocates argue that the bill’s core problem isn’t a “loophole,” but the removal of the only protection citizens have against administrative obstruction.
If a background check must be completed before a firearm can be transferred — and there is no deadline for completion — then the government can effectively ban gun purchases without ever issuing a denial.
No appeal. No due process. No explanation. Just silence.
“This bill doesn’t ban guns on paper,” Chris McNutt of Texas Gun Rights said. “It bans them in practice.”
Under the proposed law, lawful purchasers could wait weeks, months, or indefinitely for approval, with no legal remedy if the FBI simply fails to act.
Gun-rights attorneys warn that such a system turns the Second Amendment into a permission slip — valid only when the bureaucracy cooperates.
Background Checks as a Control Mechanism
While gun-confiscation groups frame the legislation as a safety measure, critics argue it fundamentally changes the nature of background checks themselves.
Originally designed as a quick eligibility verification, NICS would instead become a gatekeeping mechanism, giving federal authorities unilateral power to stall firearm acquisition without accountability.
That shift, opponents say, is not accidental.
For decades, the gun-confiscation movement has pursued expanded background checks as the most politically palatable path toward deeper federal control of gun ownership.
An indefinite background check is no longer a check — it is a veto.
From Indefinite Delay to Permanent Records
Gun-rights advocates also warn that limitless delays create another serious consequence: permanent records.
When background checks never resolve, they generate enduring data on attempted firearm purchases — who tried to buy, when, and where.
Over time, critics say, that information becomes a functional gun registry, even if lawmakers refuse to call it one.
The concern is not theoretical.
Gun-confiscation organizations backing Blumenthal’s bill — including Brady, Giffords, and Everytown — have openly advocated for national licensing and registration schemes in the past.
To gun owners, the pattern is familiar.
Registration is framed as benign oversight. Oversight becomes enforcement. Enforcement becomes prohibition. And prohibition, historically, is followed by confiscation.
The Long Game Is Not a Secret
Supporters of the bill often deny any intent to create a registry or enable confiscation.
But gun-rights advocates point out that the same assurances have accompanied nearly every expansion of gun control over the last half-century.
Once the federal government controls whether a citizen may acquire a firearm — rather than merely verifying eligibility — the Second Amendment ceases to function as a right.
It becomes conditional.
And conditions can always be tightened.
A Warning Shot for Gun Owners
Blumenthal’s legislation faces an uncertain future in Congress, but gun-rights groups say its introduction alone should serve as a warning.
The fight is no longer just about banning firearms outright. It’s about redefining “process” in a way that allows the government to deny rights through delay.
“A right delayed is a right denied,” said McNutt. “And this bill makes delay limitless.”
For gun owners, the danger isn’t just what this bill does today — it’s what it normalizes for tomorrow.
Because once indefinite delay becomes law, the Second Amendment exists only at the speed of federal bureaucracy.
And that speed, history shows, is whatever those in power want it to be.
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