House Democrats say the two gun control bills they are poised to pass would make the country safer.

Democrats are pushing for passage of two bills to strengthen background checks for gun sales.

“If you are a criminal, you are a felon, you are deranged, well by God you shouldn’t have access to a weapon, that’s what this bill does. It has the support of about 90% of Americans,” Illinois Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos said.

Bustos says one bill would close the so-called “gun show loophole” by making it illegal for unlicensed persons to transfer firearms to someone else without a background check.

Republicans have a different view.

“I’m a father of a 5-year-old who’s in school, I care deeply about gun violence,” said Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C.

The bills have a tough road ahead.

 “These bills again would not have stopped a single mass shooting,” according to Hudson.

But Democrats say the second bill, which extends the background check period from three to 10 days, would give more time to flag individuals like the shooter in the Charleston church massacre.

“In Nevada, we certainly know about gun violence,” said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev. “We had the highest number of people killed in an incident in modern history.”

The Oct. 1, 2017, shooting on the Las Vegas Strip is still fresh in the minds of many Nevadans.

Titus said the bills still respect the gun rights of Americans.

“That doesn’t mean that people who shouldn’t have guns can go out and use them in our streets as weapons of war,” Titus said.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio says he doubts the bills will improve gun violence. “The people that aren’t going to follow the law are criminals, the people that are buying guns in a back alley,” he said.

If the bills pass in the house, they would need to gain support from evrey Democrat and 10 Republicans to pass in the Senate.