The NRA insisted that it was not a "gun control" bill because it does not disqualify anyone currently able to legally purchase a firearm. The NRA has always supported the NICS, said the organization's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre. "We've always been vigilant about protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to purchase guns, and equally vigilant about keeping the guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally defective and people who shouldn't have them."

House Passes Federal Gun Control Bill