NEWTOWN, Conn. —-(Ammoland.com)- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, today commended President Donald Trump and Congress for signing into law the omnibus legislation containing Fix NICS and Stop School Violence provisions. Both legislative measures were called for by President Trump and supported by NSSF as measures to help ensure firearms remain beyond the reach of prohibited individuals while respecting the rights of law-abiding firearms owners and working to keep children safe.
“The legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump is a true achievement to making communities safer while respecting individual rights,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president for government and public affairs and general counsel. “This law will enable the FBI’s background check system to work as intended, a longstanding goal for the firearms industry, as well as providing resources to states to improve mental health and intervention services critical to enabling authorities to proactively address potential threats in their communities.”
NSSF thanks Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for his leadership to reach across party lines and gain support from 77 senators to make true changes that make communities safer while respecting constitutional rights.
“Fixing the background check system will help save lives and reduce the likelihood of what occurred in Parkland and Sutherland Springs from happening again,” said Sen. Cornyn in a press release.
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised legislation for the measures to work with states to ensure all disqualifying mental health and criminal records are uploaded to the FBI and resources are available to intervene to prevent tragedies witnessed in Florida.
“This bill fixes and fully funds the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS), a critical step to keep guns out of the hands of people with a criminal history,” Speaker Ryan said in a press release. “It implements key provisions of the STOP School Violence Act to fund Department of Justice grant programs that help keep schools safe. Overall, the bill provides more than $2.3 billion in new funding for mental health, training, and school safety programs.”
NSSF launched the FixNICS campaign in 2013 and worked successfully to reform laws in 16 states, resulting in an increase in the number of disqualifying mental health records in NICS to nearly 5 million, from about 1.7 million, a 200 percent increase. NSSF previously endorsed S. 2135, the Fix NICS Act by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), which topped 77 cosponsors. NSSF also endorsed H.R. 4909, the Stop School Violence Act, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Both bills were merged with the omnibus legislation and are now law.
The legislation includes several other crucial provisions to important to hunters and recreational shooting. NSSF supported the inclusion of an additional $10 million for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to aide in reducing administrative backlogs. The legislation also affirms the policy that the Centers for Disease Control is enabled to study firearms, but that any study must adhere to longstanding restrictions of advocacy. Increased access to public lands for hunters and recreational shooters was included.
NSSF worked with Congress to include the Making Public Lands Public Act as a provision. This initiative ensures a portion of funds are permanently made available from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for land acquisition to ensure the public has access to the more than 38 million acres of isolated public lands either through ownership of private properties or geographic boundaries. NSSF is also proud to support the inclusion of the “Hunt Unrestricted on National Treasures” (HUNT) Act in the Omnibus, which would improve access to federal lands for hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation by directing federal public land management agencies to identify federal lands where hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation are permitted but where access is unavailable or significantly restricted.
About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 12,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org/.
@Joe Yes; and the 200,000 or so misguided youth that went to Washington should have been and should continue to be descending on the Broward County Sheriff Headquarters, Local FBI Office that took the calls and failed to act, etc. along with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus,and mom Tish, sisters Brandi and Noah, Ariana Grande, Cher Oprah Winfrey, Amal Clooney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Platt, Jennifer Hudson, Paul McCartney, Yara Shahidi, Amy Schumer, Olivia Wilde and Skai Jackson, etc., etc. demanding answers, change, resignations, compensation of and from the Broward… Read more »
Did the bill that just passed include requiring that someone has to be 21 years of age to purchase a firearm? My youngest grandson just turned 18 years old.
@Oldvet I did not know Trump could let the bill pass by him and still be put into law. In another six months they will be doing this again and chances are Trump may have learned a lesson from this one. Politics are a mean game.
@Joe, be concerned about the definition of what is meant by “mentally disqualifying”. 13 months now Senate ignores Reciprocity for the law-abiding who hold carry permits who continue to be arrested crossing a border line, but continue giving to the liberals.
S2135 and HR4909 merged, passed by Trump:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2135/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22S.+2135%22%5D%7D&r=1&overview=closed#tabs
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4909/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22hr4909%22%5D%7D&r=1
“Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised legislation for the measures to work with states to ensure all disqualifying mental health…”
What is the definition of “disqualifying mental health”?? Someone who had their doctor prescribe a stress medication for a short duration of time at one time or another; two decades earlier, three decades earlier?? Half the country could be deemed “disqualified mentally” by NICS.
All comments before mine are spot on.
NSSF has always been questionable, now they are unbelievable.
Does anyone have a list of Republicans who voted for more gun control? There’s an election coming up soon!
Does anyone have the list of Republicans who voted for more gun control? There are elections coming up soon.
why should we Americans ever BE GOOD AND OR DECENT TO OUR TRAITORS IN GOVT.
to me it’s like KISSING THE ASS OF BULLIES, this is like KISSING THE HAND OF THE HANGMEN AS HE SLIPS THE NOOSE AROUND YOUR NECK.
this HAS TO END, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
Decent, honest citizens are being punished for the acts of the criminals and crazies that are allowed to run loose in modern America! Lock up the criminals and crazies, problem solved!