Republicans Prepare Pro-gun Riders for Appropriations, Obama Finalizing New Restriction Regulations

Over the past two days, there have been reports that a battle is brewing on firearm rights that will likely come to a head in the fall.  On the pro-rights side, Republicans have included riders in the Commerce Justice and Science appropriations to prohibit the use of funding to support restrictions on our rights.

Lawmakers are bracing for a showdown on Capitol Hill over gun provisions in a bill to fund the Justice Department (DOJ).

House Republicans are seeking to roll back a number of controversial gun regulations from the Obama administration, but not without a fight from Democrats.

Some of the provisions would block DOJ from banning military-style assault rifles and high-powered bullets for handguns, and collecting information about certain guns sales.

These provisions are expected to be offered as so-called appropriations riders, which means DOJ’s funding would be contingent on federal authorities following these rules.

It’s an opportunity for congressional Republicans to withhold funding from the agency unless the Obama administration backs down from certain gun regulations.

Or as the National Rifle Association sees it: "We need to stop the Obama administration from bypassing Congress on gun control,” said NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker.

But Democrats are bitterly opposing the gun riders. They see it as a dirty trick by the GOP to beat back gun safety measures.

Obama has theatened to veto the appropriation bill for several reasons, including the firearm related riders?

On the second front, Obama, knowing he can't get new restrictive laws through Congress, is planning to use Justice Department regulatory power to go after our rights.  It's known as the "Unified Agenda" and in the case of domestic abusers and the mentally ill, some would say these type of people should not have access to firearms, but when you dig deeper, it's all in the eye of the beholder.   You see, Obama wants to expand the definition of things like Domestic Violence and Mental Illness, as Jazz Shaw at Hot Air notes:

The appeal to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers is a powerful one, particularly in today’s media climate. And to be sure, actual perpetrators of domestic violence should not be trusted with weapons if they have so little control over their temper. But as with all things, such instances need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. Blanket bans for misdemeanor convictions such as the one being proposed can wind up sweeping all sorts of folks into the net, such as the Florida woman recently charged with slapping her annoying husband during an argument. Does anyone think she should be included based on nothing more than that?

Obama also wants to expand the definition of what constitutes being mentally ill.  Then there is  the proposal having to do with the elimination of NFA trusts.  Items like suppressors require law enforcement approval.  In states like Virginia, the approval process can vary from locality to locality and be very arbitrary.  VSSA has worked to streamline this process in Virginia and this year for the first time our efforts led to a bill passing and going to the governor.  Unfortunately, Governor McAuliffe vetoed the bill.  NFA Trusts have become very popular to address this issue. Currently only the person setting up the trust must go through the approval process.  Beneficiaries of the trusts do not.  This allows items to be passed down through families or allow those beneficiaries to use those items while the owner is living.   Obama is proposing that everyone, including beneficiary's of NFA Trusts must undergo the approval process. 

On yesterday's Sportsman Channel's NRANews Cam and Company, host Cam Edwards talked with NRA-ILA' s media liaison Catherine Mortensen about the new proposals that the administration expects to be ready by November: