Texas shooting: Rep. Tom Rice says US should ‘absolutely’ expand background checks
In the wake of a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice said he “absolutely” supports expanding background checks for gun buyers.
Background checks are a measure he believes would keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of shooters.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, Rice said he and his wife were “devastated by the horrific tragedy in Uvalde.”
“Second to their homes, schools should be the safest place for our children,” Rice said. “Our country needs to come together and do everything we can to stop this from happening again. Our children deserve better.”
In an interview Wednesday, Rice said he supports expanding background checks by giving law enforcement additional access to an FBI database that contains information on when people have interacted with the police.
The database, called the National Data Exchange, or N-DEx, contains “incident, arrest, and booking reports; pretrial investigations; supervised released reports; calls for service; photos; and field contact/identification records,” according to the FBI.
Currently, Rice said, law enforcement officials check two databases when performing a background check, and he supports giving them access to a third, the N-DEx.
Rice’s call for expanded background checks comes on the heels of President Joe Biden calling for additional federal gun regulation.
“As a nation we have to ask: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what has to be done?” Biden said hours after the Ulvade shooting.
Rice has pushed for his background check expansion in a bill in Congress, which he originally introduced in 2019. The measure would amend the 1993 Brady Act which first mandated background checks for firearm purchases.
“They look at two criminal databases but they have three databases, and the reason they don’t look at the third one is because it didn’t exist when the passed the background check law in the 1990s,” Rice said. “And my bill says look at the third one.”
Rice’s bill has bipartisan support and has been sitting in a House Judiciary subcommittee since May 2021. South Carolina Reps Nancy Mace, William Timmons, and Joe Wilson have all co-sponsored the legislation. Texas Representatives endorsed by the National Rifle Association — Republican Dan Crenshaw and Democrat Henry Cuellar — are also among the co-sponsors.
Rice, on Wednesday, said he began supporting background checks after a Charleston judge wrote that the 2015 mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church may have been prevented with a more intensive background check.
He said mass shootings in Charleston and Parkland, Florida could have been prevented with the expanded background checks.
“I took it from (the judge’s) opinion, that’s where I got the bill because he said this is the kind of background check (the shooter) would have failed, if they had looked at that data,” Rice said.
“If they have interacted with the police, this bill would block them from being able to buy a gun.”
But, Rice said, he doubts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will allow a vote on his bill “because she doesn’t want the solution to this to come from the Republicans.”
In 2019, South Carolina was eighth highest in the nation with 1,012 gun deaths, according to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, and 95 were children. The Myrtle Beach City Council voted to support the June 3 National Gun Violence Awareness Day just prior to the Ulvade shooting.
Rice, too, is facing a difficult re-election campaign on June 14. His top challengers, Donald Trump-endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry and Horry County school board chairman Ken Richardson, offered different solutions to prevent mass shootings.
Fry, in a statement, said placing police officers in every school and “making sure every student has access to mental health counseling” could prevent future tragedies.
In Ulvade, police attempted to stop the gunman before he entered the school, but failed to do so.
“Yesterday we were reminded that we live in an imperfect world, one with senseless violence and increasing mental health problems. Through prayer and God’s grace, we will get through this,” Fry said. “I do not know what makes a person murder innocent lives, but now is the time to remain focused on these families and their grief.”
Fry’s campaign declined to comment on whether or not he supports expanding background checks.
Richardson, too, called the shooting “a mental health problem,” adding “my heart hurts this morning for Texas.” He said expanding background checks was “not necessary.”
“I don’t think we have a gun problem. I think we have a mental health problem,” Richardson said. “I feel with confidence I own more guns than any candidate in this race. I feel if someone bad wants something bad to happen they will find a way to make it happen.”
Sun News reporter Adam Benson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 1:14 PM.
