RELEASE: FY18 Omnibus Released, Includes Modest Provisions to Address Gun Violence

March 22, 2018

March 22, 2018 — Today, Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, issued the following statement in reaction to the release of H.R. 1625, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018. The bill includes the Fix NICS Act, introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) in wake of the November shooting in Sutherland Springs, which enforces current law by ensuring states and federal agencies are reporting the appropriate records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Report language released with the bill clarifies that despite the Dickey Amendment stating that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot “advocate or promote gun control,” the CDC is still legally able to perform research into the causes of gun violence.

“The bill unveiled today includes modest provisions to address gun violence,” said Robin Lloyd, Government Affairs Director at Giffords.“But let’s be honest: states and federal agencies should already be reporting records to NICS, and the CDC should have been researching gun violence for the past 22 years. The two main pieces of this bill that Republicans will hail as their action to prevent gun violence are already law. I’m pleased that they’ve realized they can no longer do nothing when nearly 34,000 people are dying every year– and I’m particularly grateful that the NICS background check system and NVDRS are appropriately funded– but we have a long way to go.”

Also included in the FY18 omnibus:

Language that provides the proper oversight to ensure the Department of Defense reports records into the NICS background checks system.The Department of Defense failed to properly report the Sutherland Springs shooter, enabling the shooter to kill 26 people in a Texas church last November. Giffords worked with the office of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to ensure this language was included.
$75 million for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, an increase of $2 million from the FY17 level. Additional language provides states and tribal governments with technical assistance and training to improve the application process and ensure more grantees receive funding assistance to upload records to NICS.
$1.3 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is $35 million above the FY17 enacted level.
Fully funds the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) at $23.5 million.NVDRS is a data system run by the CDC that provides state and local communities with information about violent deaths across the country, and this $7.5 million increase from FY17 will allow the system to include data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
$59.5 million for violence intervention and prevention programs within the Department of Justice. Gun violence can be addressed through these programs using community-based violence prevention and intervention strategies that are proven to save lives.

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Giffords is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, Giffords inspires the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer.