Democrats have thrown a few feeble pitches with gun-control legislation this session, but those were never expected to get far. This is the one they’ve actually been gearing up for. They’ll sell it as a “moderate” measure, and they’ll probably use the phrase common sense quite a bit.
It’s actually quite dangerous. This is the relevant language:
not fewer than 10 business days (meaning a day on which State offices are open) has elapsed since the licensee contacted the system, and the system has not notified the licensee that the receipt of a firearm by such other person would violate subsection (g) or (n) of this section, and the other person has submitted, electronically through a website established by the Attorney General or by first-class mail, a petition for review
Right now, if you try to buy a gun and your background check gets delayed, the government has 3 business days to review it. If they haven’t found anything and contacted the FFL, he can choose to transfer the gun to you. This was explicitly included in the Brady Act so the FBI couldn’t put people on indefinite delay.
(Frankly, if they can’t determine you’re disqualified within three days, that’s their problem.)
This law changes that in two ways. First off, you have to wait 10 business days to even get the ball rolling. After that period, they still can’t release the gun to you. You would have to petition (through some undefined website, apparently) for review, and who knows how long that will take.
What this means is, the FBI can decide they’re too busy to run the checks and put everyone on delayed status. It would be up to you to prove you’re not disqualified.
It currently has 60 cosponsors, and the NSSF says they’re going to bypass the committee process and bring it straight to a floor vote. Start contacting your legislators about this now, folks. Popvox has a page that makes it easy.