The massive funding bill that passed with the votes of Alaska Congressman Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski contain two anti-Second Amendment provisions, according to the Gun Owners of America, a pro-Second Amendment organization.
One provision allows the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency to deputize local police as ATF agents in states that are considered Second Amendment Sanctuaries. The ATF agents would enforce federal gun laws, allowing the federal government to override sanctuary protections.
The other provision funds criminal investigations into people who have been denied the ability to purchase a gun because of a faulty National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) report. Less than 1 out of 100 NICS checks are denied, usually due to a felony record, but in many cases the denial is due to faulty information in the NICS database. Those who fail the NICS check would be criminally investigated by the FBI or ATF for having attempted to purchase a firearm.
President Biden signed the spending bill into law on Tuesday.
The 2,700+ bill contains $1.5 trillion in spending, and contains the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act (VAWA), a priority of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and the NICS Denial Notification Act. The bill was introduced at 1:30 am last Wednesday, and had passed the House on Wednesday night, with the support of all Democrats and 39 Republican representatives, including Congressman Young.
By Thursday, the bill had passed the Senate with the support of all Democrat senators and 18 Republicans, including Murkowski, but not including Sen. Dan Sullivan, who said he had not had time to read the bill, as it was being hurried through.
Gun Owners of America analyzed the bill and broadcast action alerts to its members, but congressional leaders had already struck the anti-gun deal, Gun Owners of America reported.
“Sadly, the bill could have been stopped entirely had Republicans opposed the bill in unison, because anti-gunners were short a Senator,” the group said.
Four gun control sections were removed from the Violence Against Women Act:
- Sections 101 and 102: grant funding programs to train police to executive “red flag” gun confiscation orders.
- Section 801: an expansion of the Lautenberg Misdemeanor Gun Ban (a.k.a. Biden’s “Boyfriend Loophole”).
- Section 802: funding to turn state-level stalking laws into “red flag” gun confiscation laws.
These gun control provisions remained:
- Sections 1101-1102: the NICS Denial Notification Act to launch criminal investigations into firearm transfer background check denials—even though 9 out of 10 times the system falsely denies a law-abiding citizen who is attempting to purchase a firearm.
- Section 1103: funding for ATF to deputize local police to enforce federal gun laws, especially to undermine Second Amendment Protection Act (SAPA) states.
