Sens. Cory Booker and Bob Menendez are helping to introduce a bill to expand firearm background checks in the United States.

The bill is known as the Background Check Expansion Act.

"Expanding background checks can make our communities, our schools and our country safer for everyone,” Menendez said in a statement. “With commonsense reform like this, we can put an end to the gun violence epidemic that has plagued our nation for too long."

If approved, the legislation would expand background checks to all gun sales.

The announcement comes as the FBI says that gun sales hit a five-year high last month. The agency said that 39 million guns were sold in February, compared to just 1 million sold in February 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a new presidential administration are being seen as the cause. There is typically a surge in gun sales amidst the threat of tighter gun regulations. The Biden administration promised stricter regulations during the campaign.

The FBI compiles gun sales data based on the number of background checks performed. It was the highest sales number for February since records started being kept.