The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industries, praised today’s passage of H.R. 4909, the STOP School Violence Act of 2018, introduced by U.S. Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.). The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in an overwhelming bipartisan majority. Identically–titled legislation, S. 2495, introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is being considered in the U.S. Senate.“The passage of the STOP School Violence Act by the U.S. House of Representatives demonstrates that there are significant steps we can agree upon to make our schools and communities safer,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “This is just one of the key pieces of legislation called for in President Trump’s school safety initiative. We will continue to press our lawmakers to enact into law proposals that bolster school security and respect Constitutional rights including the right of due process and the rights of young adults to purchase firearms for hunting, sports shooting and their own self-defense.”
President Donald Trump’s school safety initiative called for passage of the STOP School Violence Act and the Fix NICS Act, currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The Fix NICS Act, S. 2135 introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and has 68 bipartisan cosponsors, would allow the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to work as intended by providing incentives for states and requiring federal agencies to upload all disqualifying criminal and mental health records for those involuntarily committed or adjudicated dangerously mentally ill.
The legislation is named for NSSF’s FixNICS® campaign, launched in 2013. Since then, NSSF has worked successfully to reform laws in 16 states, resulting in an increase in the number of disqualifying mental health records in NICS to nearly 5 million, from about 1.7 million, a 200 percent increase.
NSSF has long advocated for effective solutions to help prevent access to firearms by unauthorized individuals. Members of the firearms industry share the goal of all Americans in wanting to see violence in our society reduced and our communities and children made safer, and welcome the opportunity to participate in the national conversation that will help us all achieve our shared goal.