Federal Appropriations: Pro-Gun Language Restored

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NRA-ILA | Federal Appropriations: Pro-Gun Language Restored​

MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2022

NRA-ILA | Federal Appropriations: Pro-Gun Language Restored

This week, President Biden signed into law a massive spending bill that funds the government through the end of the year, and, once again, NRA-ILA was successful in working on Capitol Hill to keep anti-gun members of Congress from eliminating pro-gun riders such as the Tiahrt amendment on...

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This week, President Biden signed into law a massive spending bill that funds the government through the end of the year, and, once again, NRA-ILA was successful in working on Capitol Hill to keep anti-gun members of Congress from eliminating pro-gun riders such as the Tiahrt amendment on releasing trace data and the Dickey amendment prohibiting the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from advocating for gun control.

The extensive work covered hearings, bill markups and votes in committee and on the floor to keep these provisions from being stripped. NRA-ILA was also effective in engaging the Senate to restore longstanding pro-gun language that was stripped in the House versions of the appropriations bills. This has been lauded as a huge win in protecting the Second Amendment in a Democrat-controlled Congress.

In addition to protecting riders that strengthen the Second Amendment, NRA-ILA was successful in having extreme gun control measures stripped from the final spending plan. Earlier this term, House Democrats included language in their spending proposal that would have essentially banned so called “ghost guns,” as well as provided funding for nationwide “red flag” laws, gun licensing schemes and taxpayer funded buyback proposals. House Democrats pushed these proposals in an attempt to circumvent regular order and enact back door gun grabs. NRA-ILA worked with pro-gun members of the U.S. Senate to see these provisions struck.

Along with protecting both the Tiahrt and Dickey amendments, the pro-gun riders that were restored included:

• Firearms Parts Export to Canada. Prohibits ATF from requiring an export license for small firearms parts valued at less than $500 for export to Canada. This provision removed an unnecessary and burdensome requirement on U.S. gun manufacturers that was imposed under the Clinton Administration.
• Importation of Curios and Relics. Prevents ATF from arbitrarily denying the importation of qualified curio and relic firearms. This provision ensures that collectible firearms that meet all legal requirements for importation into the United States are not prevented from import by Executive Branch fiat.
• Shotgun Importation Protections. Prohibits the DOJ from requiring imported shotguns to meet a “sporting purposes” test that the ATF has used to prohibit the importation of shotguns with one or more features disliked by the agency, such as adjustable stocks, extended magazine tubes, etc.
• Protecting Lead Ammo and Fishing Tackle from TSCA regulation. Prevents lead ammunition and fishing tackle from being regulated under the Toxic Substance Control Act. This provision was added in 2014 as a safety policy against any attempt the EPA might possibly make to regulate lead ammunition even though TSCA directly states that it is not in the EPA’s jurisdiction.
• Protecting Historic Firearms and Spent Brass Casings from Destruction. Preserves the opportunity for American gun owners to purchase surplus firearms that are no longer of use to the U.S. military. This includes M-1 Carbines, M-1 Garand rifles, M-14 rifles, .22 caliber rifles, .30 caliber rifles and M-1911 pistols. Starting in 1979, different versions of this language have prevented these firearms from being needlessly destroyed. In 2009, Congress amended this language at the urging of NRA-ILA to prevent the destruction of spent brass casings, a boon for gun owners and reloaders concerned about the rising price of ammunition.
• No Tax Dollars to Lobby and Promote Gun Control. Prevents federal funds from being used for lobbying efforts designed to support or defeat the passage of legislation being considered by Congress or any state or local legislative body. Too often, community action groups are utilizing federal money to lobby for increased regulation of firearms including trigger locks, bans on semi-automatic rifles, regulating magazine capacity, etc. This funding subverts the Second Amendment and allows anti-gun Administrations to fund grassroots gun control efforts using taxpayer dollars.

The hard work is not over for those protecting the Second Amendment in Congress, however, as work on next year’s funding bills has already begun. NRA-ILA will keep you apprised as the process moves forward.

 

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Congress Passes FY22 Appropriations Package with VAWA Reauthorization
MARCH 15, 2022

Today, President Biden signed the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act into law, a nearly 3000-page bill that funds all government programs. Included in the large bill was a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA). VAWA is a law that focuses on, among others, domestic violence and sexual assault survivor programs. Originally passed in 1994, and typically reauthorized every five years thereafter with bipartisan support, the law expired in 2019.

Instead of pursuing a clean reauthorization of the law, Nancy Pelosi and her allies in Congress chose to push their political agenda and exploit the legitimate issue of domestic violence to push a VAWA reauthorization that created new prohibited categories under the guise of so-called “loopholes” in federal firearm laws.

In March 2021, Pelosi shepherded a bill out of the U.S. House, H.R. 1620, that contained a number of firearm-related provisions. Her main goal was to expand misdemeanor lifetime firearm prohibitions for non-domestic, non-violent crimes, as well as create firearm prohibitions for ex parte restraining orders. This bill was a clear attempt to treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right and use the serious issue of domestic violence as a smokescreen for its real goal – banning firearm ownership to as many people as possible.

In February 2022, a bipartisan VAWA-reauthorization S. 3623 was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Due to the tireless advocacy outreach by NRA-ILA and NRA membership, none of the so-called “loophole” language was included in the bill – a serious blow to gun control advocates in and outside of Congress, as well as Joe Biden, but a major win for supporters of the Second Amendment. S. 3623 text was included in the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act that Biden signed into law.

Much more at:

NRA-ILA | Congress Passes FY22 Appropriations Package with VAWA Reauthorization

Today, President Biden signed the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act into law, a nearly 3000-page bill that funds all government programs. Included in the large bill was a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA). VAWA is a law that focuses on, among others...

www.nraila.org