For Immediate Release: March 17, 2022
Contact: Ryan Hite, Communications Director
Spending Bill Hides VAWA Reauthorization and Passage of NICS Denial Notification Act
Washinton, D.C.: President Biden has signed Congress’s hurriedly passed, 2,700+ page, $1.5+ trillion spending bill, but we are still finding more bureaucratic filth buried in the pile of pages.
“Americans are livid about yet another omnibus spending bill and they ought to be!” said Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles. “Congress always shoves these through at the eleventh hour in order to ‘avert a shutdown,’ but all they’re really averting is fiscal responsibility.
“Kicking the budgetary can down the road by crafting omnibus bills that hinder transparency isn’t the only problem in this particular mess. This time, Congress managed to sneak through key gun control legislation, and they did it thanks to several Republican votes in the Senate.”
Martin continued, “The Violence Against Women Act (which expired under Trump) was reauthorized as a part of this spending bill. VAWA has always been opposed by 2nd Amendment groups for its sweeping ‘red flag’ confiscation laws and misdemeanor gun bans. But even as some of these horrible components were removed, terrifying new measures were added.”
- The National Instant Criminal Background Check Services (NICS) Denial Notification Act was enacted as a part of VAWA to force a criminal investigation into every single firearm purchase background check denial. This move comes despite government statistics that show the vast majority of NICS denials are easily rectified cases of mistaken identity in the system.
- Also, VAWA now includes funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to deputize local police to enforce federal gun laws! This was crafted, it seems, specifically to undermine those 2nd Amendment ‘sanctuary states’ that have enacted protections against federal intrusion on their citizens.
“These are nasty surprises buried inside an already-bad bill,” Martin concluded. “What’s even more hurtful is the 18 Republican Senators who voted this gun control through. The hope in this situation is that it’s election year, and every single candidate for office ought to pay attention! Take note, conservative federal candidates: We the People are making a list of things we expect you to quickly dismantle with your majority in 2023!”
###
