A $1.5 trillion spending bill passed by the House last week includes gun control measures listed as “law enforcement tools to enhance public safety.”
Beginning in Sec. 1101 of the more than 2,700-page bill, the “NICS Denial Notification Act of 2022” adds a new provision entitled “Reporting of background check denials to State authorities,” which requires local law enforcement authorities to be notified if the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) denies a firearm transfer.
“…report to the local law enforcement authority of the State or Tribe where the person sought to acquire the firearm and, if different, the local law enforcement authorities of the State or Tribe of residence of the person— (A) that the notice was provided; (B) the Federal, State, local or Tribal prohibition; (C) the date and time the notice was provided; (D) the location of the licensee where the firearm was sought to be transferred; and (E) the identity of the person; and where practicable, report the incident to State and local prosecutors or Tribal prosecutors in the jurisdiction where the firearm transfer was sought,” the bill states.
It also changes the definition of “local law enforcement authority” to include “a bureau, office, department or other authority of a State or local government or Tribe that has jurisdiction to investigate a violation or potential violation of, or enforce, a State, local, or Tribal law.’’
The report must be made within 24 hours of the denial.
Additionally, the legislation requires an annual bill to be sent to Congress detailing the number of firearm denials overall, as well as the number of denials referred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the number of denials overturned through the appeals process, and more.
Gun Owners of America, a pro-Second Amendment advocacy group, called on its members to contact their representatives in Congress over the “outrageous” provisions.
“As a member of Gun Owners of America (GOA), I am appalled at sections 1101-1103, which causes the government to investigate background checks which didn’t pass, even though greater than 95% of them are false positives,” the group’s suggested message to Congress states.
In a “National Alert,” GOA accused anti-gun lawmakers of pulling “perhaps their dirtiest trick yet” by including the anti-gun provisions in a bill that typically receives wide bipartisan support.
“So far, Gun Owners of America has been successful at defeating the gun grabbers at every turn. But just recently, the anti-gun politicians have pulled perhaps their dirtiest trick yet,” GOA said in a statement. “Because your elected officials are afraid of being on the record, leadership protects them by stuffing things they don’t think will pass on its own merits into what is known as the annual omnibus bill, or omni for short.”
“It cannot be overstated, the omnibus bills usually have massive bi-partisan support, so you and every freedom-loving American need to get on this NOW,” the group continued. “Let your Representative and Senators, be they Democrats or Republicans, know that a bi-partisan agreement to destroy the Constitution is unacceptable.”
