ARS Applauds Senate Appropriations Committee Passage of the FY2017 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Bill with Investments to Address Nexus of Gun Violence and Domestic Abuse, Strengthen Federal Background Check System

April 22, 2016 – Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, today applauded the Senate Appropriations Committee’s passage of the Fiscal Year FY2017 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill. The bill fully funds at the requested level of $4 million a new program for fiscal year 2017, the Domestic Violence Firearm Lethality Reduction Initiative, which will help improve the response of law enforcement and the court system in protecting domestic violence survivors in cases involving firearms. The FY 2017 bill also includes $75 million for the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS), $2 million above the FY2016 enacted level.

“We are pleased to see that members of the Senate Appropriations Committee came together to make some bipartisan and badly-needed investments that will help protect domestic violence victims from abusers with guns, strengthen our background check system, and keep guns out of the wrong hands,” said Peter Ambler, Founder and 501(c)(4) Director of Americans for Responsible Solutions. “We hope that Senate and House negotiators will include this important investments in the final bill and help give our law enforcement officials and courts the tools they need to enforce the laws on the books. There is also a lot more that can be done to fix our broken broken background check system – including closing the loopholes that allows dangerous people to buy guns without a background check or any questions asked. Americans for Responsible Solutions will continue to fight for closing these loopholes and making our communities safer from gun violence.”