# Sen. Blumenthal’s ‘Background Check Completion Act’: A Sneaky Delay-Until-Denied Trap for Gun Owners
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is at it again with S.3458, the so-called **Background Check Completion Act of 2025 (BCCA)**, peddled under the deceptively simple slogan No check, no gun. On the surface, it sounds like a harmless nudge to ensure every firearm transfer waits for NICS clearance before completion. But peel back the layers, and this is classic political sleight-of-hand—a backdoor scheme to weaponize delays against law-abiding Americans. Blumenthal, fresh off his failed push for assault weapon bans post-Sandy Hook in his home state, knows the current NICS system already approves over 99% of checks (FBI data: 26.2 million approvals vs. 1.1 million denials in FY2023). His bill doesn’t fix errors or streamline processes; it mandates indefinite holds on incomplete checks, turning bureaucratic foot-dragging into a de facto denial. Remember the ATF’s delay-to-deny playbook under Biden? This codifies it federally, potentially stranding hunters, sport shooters, and self-defense buyers in limbo for weeks—especially in high-volume states like Texas or Florida where backlogs spike during peak seasons.
The real genius (or villainy) here is the timing and theater. Dropped in the lame-duck session post-2024 elections, BCCA exploits Dems’ fleeting Senate edge before Trump-era reforms kick in. It’s not about safety—career criminals don’t run checks, and prohibited persons already skirt the system via straw buyers or theft (ATF traces: 80% of crime guns aren’t from legal FFLs). Instead, it piles on compliance costs for the 80 million+ legal gun owners, echoing failed red-flag expansions and universal check flops like Maryland’s handgun roster debacle, where wait times ballooned to 30+ days. For the 2A community, this is a red flag: if completion becomes subjective, expect lawsuits mirroring *Bruen*’s plain-text scrutiny, where courts struck down subjective sensitive places. Gun shops could face felony charges for premature sales, chilling FFL operations and inflating black-market premiums.
Bottom line for patriots: Contact your senators—oppose S.3458 before it metastasizes. This isn’t reform; it’s erosion, betting on compliance fatigue to normalize confiscation-by-delay. With SCOTUS eyeing more 2A cases (*Rahimi* aftermath), Blumenthal’s stunt underscores why vigilance trumps virtue-signaling. Stay armed, stay informed—our rights depend on it.
*Sources: Congress.gov (S.3458 text), FBI NICS Operations Report FY2023, ATF Crime Gun Intelligence Center.*
