Democratic U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal are leading a bill to expand federal background checks to all gun sales made in the United States, officials said.

The legislation, called the Background Check Expansion Act, is being reintroduced by a bipartisan group of 45 senators including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. The bill would require background checks for the sale or transfer of all firearms. Currently, unlicensed or private sellers are not required to conduct a background check prior to transferring a firearm, lawmakers say.

“Nearly 90% of Americans — including the overwhelming majority of gun owners — support universal background checks,” Murphy said. “It’s just common sense that somebody who can’t pass a

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