Miami Republicans split on bill to expand background checks on gun purchases

Two years ago, Miami Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart was one of eight Republicans to vote in favor of expanding background checks on every gun sale.

On Thursday, Diaz-Balart switched his position, voting against similar legislation he once supported.

But Miami’s two other House Republicans, Reps. Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar, voted yes.

Diaz-Balart’s “no” vote didn’t stop the House of Representatives from passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and sending it to the U.S. Senate. The bill was approved by a 227-203 vote, with eight Republicans joining 219 Democrats to vote for the bill. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden from Maine, joined 202 Republicans to vote against the bill.

“Last Congress, I voted for H.R. 8 as a starting point for what I hoped would be serious bipartisan negotiations to strengthen background checks,” Diaz-Balart said in a statement. “My position in support of background checks has not changed. However, House Democratic Leadership has brought forth an overly-partisan and extremist bill that fails to effectively address background checks and imposes measures that amount to clear government overreach.”

But Gimenez and Salazar, who are both likely to face strong opposition from Democrats in their 2022 reelection bids, took a different position. In Gimenez’s case, his “yes” vote comes after a mixed position on gun control measures during his 2020 campaign. Gimenez said he was opposed to a ban on assault weapons and limiting magazine sizes, but supported “red flag” laws to allow the police or a family member to use the courts to temporarily restrict access to guns for individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others.

His position on expanding background checks wasn’t clear.

“Today, I voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act to close a loophole exploited by dangerous criminals to side-step the system and illegally obtain firearms,” Gimenez said in a statement. “This simple fix helps promote safe, sensible, and responsible gun ownership.”

Salazar said she voted for the bill “because I believe that everyone who purchases a firearm must pass through a background check.”

“This safety measure establishes an additional layer that will protect our community from violent criminals who take advantage of our laws to illegally get their hands on guns,” she said in a statement.

Democrats all in favor, cite school shootings

All of South Florida’s House Democrats, Reps. Ted Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Alcee Hastings, Frederica Wilson and Lois Frankel, voted for the bill.

“Eight years after Sandy Hook and three years after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in my district we should be ashamed that we have waited so long and wasted so much time when we could be saving lives,” said Deutch, who represents Parkland in Congress.

The bill would require a background check on every gun sale or transfer of a gun. While federal law already instructs licensed gun dealers to conduct background checks, the bill would require gun sellers who are not licensed under the current system to perform background checks through licensed dealers. Currently, unlicensed gun sellers are allowed to legally sell guns at gun shows, online and in-person without conducting a background check.

The background check bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, where its future is uncertain. At least 60 senators in the 100-person chamber must vote in favor to pass it. Democrats only control 50 seats, though a minority of Senate Republicans have voiced support in the past for expanding background checks. President Joe Biden has said the bill is a top priority, though Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have opposed efforts to expand background checks.

“Last month my community marked the three-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting that took 17 innocent lives,” Wasserman Schultz said. “Common-sense reforms can end this agony and keep us safer.”

Miami’s Republicans in Congress have traditionally been among the most moderate GOP members on gun control legislation. Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo led a push to ban “bump stock” devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to function similarly to automatic rifles after the accessory was used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people. He also publicly criticized the National Rifle Association and earned the endorsement of Everytown, one of the nation’s largest gun control groups, when he ran for reelection in 2018. Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen supported a ban on assault weapons and was opposed to a bill that allows concealed carry permits issued in one state to be valid in another state.

Miami’s current GOP delegation has taken more conservative positions on policy issues like voting against a bill to expand federal protections to LGBTQ people. Their votes come after former President Donald Trump’s strong performance in Miami-Dade County during the 2020 election, helping Gimenez and Salazar defeat incumbent Democrats while solidifying Diaz-Balart’s Hialeah-based district as a safe GOP seat.

On Wednesday, Gimenez was one of seven House Republicans to vote in favor of amendments to the background check bill that allow an individual who is a threat to themselves to hand over a firearm to someone else legally. Diaz-Balart and Salazar voted against the amendments, which passed on a 225-202 vote.

‘Charleston loophole’ bill also passes

All three Miami Republicans voted against a separate bill on Thursday to expand the FBI background check review period for firearm purchases from three days to 10 days. The perpetrator of a 2015 mass shooting at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, was allowed to purchase a firearm despite being ineligible to buy the gun because the FBI background check took more than three days.

The so-called “Charleston loophole” bill passed on a 219-210 vote, with two Republicans voting “yes” and two Democrats voting “no.” Diaz-Balart voted against a similar bill in 2019.

During his campaign, Gimenez said he was opposed to banning assault weapons and limiting magazine size, a priority for his opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

But his position on background checks was less clear.

“In terms of the bans on assault weapons and all, I support the Second Amendment right to bear arms,” Gimenez said in an interview last year, when asked about background checks.

Earlier in 2020, Gimenez wrote a letter while serving as Miami-Dade County mayor asking the Florida Senate to pass universal background checks for gun purchases. While running for Congress in 2018, Salazar said she was “open” to expanding background checks.

Treasure Coast Republican Rep. Brian Mast also switched his position to vote against the background check bill after supporting it in 2019. In a statement, Mast said the current version of the bill gives the attorney general more power to intervene in gun transactions.

“Changes to this legislation have subverted the original purpose of the bill and dramatically expanded the power of unelected DC bureaucrats to unilaterally implement new gun control measures,” said Mast, who supported a ban on assault weapons in 2018 after Parkland.

Sarasota Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan voted in favor of expanding background checks on Thursday after previously supporting the bill in 2019.

After the Parkland shooting, the GOP-controlled state Legislature and Scott, who was governor at the time, passed gun legislation to implement a three-day waiting period for the purchase of all firearms and raise the age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

The Florida legislation, which was supported by Parkland parents and gun control groups, was one of the most significant pieces of gun control passed by Republicans in the country.