Joshua Roberts/Reuters
A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday that would strengthen background checks for gun sales. The bill, which was introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would give incentives to states and agencies to send records to the National Instant Background Check System by withholding bonus payments for political appointees whose agencies fail to do so, while rewarding those who upload records to the system. “For years, agencies and states haven’t complied with the law, failing to upload these critical records without consequence.” Cornyn said. “This bill aims to help fix what’s become a nationwide, systemic problem so we can better prevent criminals and domestic abusers from obtaining firearms.” The bill comes 11 days after 26 people were killed at a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.