The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which was unveiled at 2:32 AM the day before a vote, is a dream come true for anti-gun politicians and the bill even subsidizes the gun control lobby. Further, its expedited timeline is an outrage, not giving gun owners enough time to analyze the full extent of the gun control funded by the legislation.

On behalf of more than two million law-abiding gun owners, GOA urges all members of Congress to vote against this anti-gun funding bill that seeks further restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of Americans and advocates for gun control measures.

Dickey Amendment Violations

The Dickey Amendment is supposed to prevent the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from “advocating or promoting gun control.” However, Gun Owners of America has found that the bill appropriates a total of $25,000,000 for “Firearm Mortality and Injury Prevention Research.” The House of Representatives voted against this language on November 15^th, 2023 in the Mariannette Miller-Meeks amendment, which passed 216-211.

GOA’s analysis of existing “Firearm Mortality and Injury Prevention Research” reveals how it completely subverts the Dickey Amendment. Identical funding to previous years is already being used by CDC and NIH illegally for:

❌ researching a firearm retirement age for senior citizens;
❌ safety check-ins to find guns in pregnant women’s homes;
❌ studying the effectiveness of gun confiscation;
❌ investigating mandatory wait periods for gun purchases;
❌ exploring expanded background checks;
❌ and more!

This is why dozens of House Representatives wrote to Speaker Johnson and Appropriations Chairwoman Granger late last week urging them to protect the Second Amendment. Apparently, such advice has been disregarded.

Gun Control Lobby Subsidy

One earmark even sets aside $59,000 for an anti-gun 501(c)(3) who boasts that they helped “create Ethan’s Law” which “Senators Blumenthal and Murphy introduced” and that they are lobbying to “pass nationally.”

This anti-gun 501(c)(3) is questionably lobbying for an unconstitutional federal unsafe storage law. “Ethan’s Law” is extremely dangerous to gun owners because it:

❌ Bans emergency access to firearms when gun owners want them for home and self-defense; and
❌ Directs the Attorney General to seize firearms not stored according to unconstitutional bureaucratic standards.

Speaker Pelosi forced a vote on this unconstitutional gun control in 2022 and Gun Owners of America also key voted against this bill. This non-profit also hosts so-called “gun buybacks” of firearms which never belonged to the government in the first place.

Even though this earmark is directed towards a “firearm safety curriculum” it is likely that the class will be anti-gun and discourage gun owners from having ready access to firearms to utilize for home defense. It will also subsidize the non-profits efforts by allowing them to redirect other funds to lobby for gun control and waste money on useless buyback programs.

Private Security for Congress

While researching how to disarm American citizens, the legislation also funds increased private security for members of Congress. Elected politicians don’t need “Enhanced Member Protection” or “Risk-Based Protections for Members of Congress.” Instead, politicians should exercise their Second Amendment-protected rights—as any other American must—and protect themselves by carrying a firearm for self-defense. Extra private security for members is hypocritical and sends a clear message to law abiding gun owners: “guns for me but not for thee!”

No Action to Protect Conservatives from Weaponized Government

Apparently, Congress “is concerned” that the government is targeting folks, like GOA members who believe gun control is unconstitutional, as militia violent extremists, domestic terrorists, etc. But unfortunately, the omnibus only directs bureaucrats to write a few reports on it—which is completely unacceptable!

The explanatory statement admits there are ongoing issues regarding rogue bureaucrats and their “consultation and coordination with non-governmental organizations to identify what constitutes ‘extremism’ and ‘extremist organizations.’”

Therefore, Congress needs to do more than just having those same anti-American bureaucrats give a biased “brief [to] the Committees.” Simply publishing a report on “the ways in which the Department consults with and utilizes non-government organizations and non-profit entities to track alleged ‘extremist’ groups operating in the United States” is not enough.

Congress just needs to ban bureaucrats from targeting conservatives! This study is meaningless, and the American people recognize that.

Failure to Rescind Past Gun Control Funding

This bill also fails to rescind past gun control funding for  the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to coordinate with the Department of Veterans Affairs to create “gun storage maps” of where veterans keep their firearms, implement “safe storage” requirements, and utilize “red flag” gun confiscation laws.

GOA Key Vote Notification

Gun Owners of America will be key voting against this minibus and scoring all votes to advance the bill as anti-gun votes in both the House and Senate. GOA urges Congress to vote against this unconstitutional, hypocritical, and anti-gun minibus.

Any votes in favor of this anti-gun Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 represent an attack on the individual Second Amendment rights of the American people and will be scored as anti-gun votes.

This vote will be taken into account in Gun Owners of America’s Scorecard, Voter Guide, and future Candidate endorsements—which can be accessed here.

Article by Aidan Johnston