Democratic U.S. Reps. Patrick Murphy, Ted Deutch and Lois Frankel at a news conference calling for “common sense” gun control in West Palm Beach.

WEST PALM BEACH — Three Democratic U.S. Reps. — Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, Ted Deutch of Boca Raton and Patrick Murphy of Jupiter — urged the Republican-controlled Congress to expand background checks for gun purchases and ban people on the FBI’s terrorist watch list from buying firearms.

Deutch said if the House is prevented from voting on the gun measures, it will confirm that Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is part of a pro-NRA “extremist fringe.”

Neither measure highlighted at a news conference today would have prevented St. Lucie County jihadist Omar Mateen from buying the guns he used to kill 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday. But the House members said the Orlando massacre highlighted the need to pass some “common-sense” gun restrictions.

Reps. Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy talk before today’s news conference on guns.

“We have these vigils, we have the candle-lighting, we have the prayer services and now it’s time for Congress to do our job,” Frankel said at a morning news conference outside the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach. “This is not about taking away guns from lawful people…This is not about taking away the Second Amendment.”

They specifically mentioned a bipartisan bill by Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., to expand background checks to include purchases made at gun shows, over the internet or in classified ads.

The King-Thompson bill also allows the FBI to prevent people on its terrorist watch list from buying guns, while allowing those who feel they are unfairly or incorrectly on the list to go to court to appeal. The National Rifle Association favors an approach that would put the burden on the government to go to court to justify preventing a person from buying a gun.

“If we are going to continue to spend our tax dollars to track these folks down, do we want to make it easier or harder for them to buy the weapons they might want to use?” said Murphy, who is running for U.S. Senate.

“If the FBI has a suspected terrorist and cannot be notified that they are trying to buy a weapon, then come on, we are failing our constituents. We are failing the American people,” Murphy said.

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton.

Deutch said restricting gun sales to suspected terrorists has overwhelming support among the public and NRA members.

“Unfortunately, there is this extremist fringe that has controlled the debate in the House of Representatives. And until Speaker Ryan is willing to let us have a vote on this, it’s clear that he is part of this extremist fringe,” Deutch said.

Asked if the burden should be on the government or the individual in a dispute over inclusion on the terrorist watch list, Deutch said: “If you’re on the terror watch list, after you’ve been investigated, after you’ve been deemed a threat, and if you’re on the no-fly list, after it’s been determined that you should not be able to board a plane, then the onus should be on you to confirm that you’re not a threat.”