(FreedomBeacon.com)- The monstrous $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package passed in Congress last week ostensibly to fund the government and prevent another shutdown contained a provision that, according to the National Association for Gun Rights would constitute “a serious expansion of federal gun control.”
Slipped into the bill to “fund the government” was the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that, this time around, imposes restrictions on gun ownership.
Under this version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), if someone attempts to purchase a firearm who is flagged by the national instant criminal background check system (NICS) would face criminal investigation by either state or local police.
But according to the National Association for Gun Rights, 95 percent of denials from the NICS end up being false positives. So under the VAWA provision, local and state police would be required by law to criminally investigate those false positives.
This would include any woman looking to purchase a firearm to protect herself from an abuser who is falsely flagged by NICS. So not only would she be a victim of abuse, but she would also become the subject of a criminal investigation.
There are other concerns over this provision of the VAWA being slipped into a spending bill, most notably, it would override existing Second Amendment sanctuary state laws.
According to Aidan Johnston, the Director of Federal Affairs for Gun Owners of America, by including this provision in what was supposed to be a spending bill, Congressional Democrats have circumvented the typical legislative processes in Congress.
They circumvented it on purpose.
Republican lawmakers oppose the introduction of gun control measures in the Violence Against Women Act. Problem is, Republicans don’t want a government shutdown either. And by slipping non-spending related provisions into this $1.5 trillion monster ostensibly to avoid a government shutdown Democrats all but guaranteed that some Republicans who oppose gun control measures would likely cave and vote for the bill.
And that’s exactly what happened.
The domestic spending portion passed the House 260 to 171 and sailed through the Senate with a vote of 68 to 31.
