Rumors and the Economic Stimulus Bill
Friday, February 13, 2009
We have been hearing many rumors, and receiving many inquiries, about "supposed" provisions in the federal economic stimulus bill that would negatively affect our Second Amendment rights. People have claimed the bill would designate interstate highways as national parks, or impose ammunition encoding and new ammunition taxes. Fortunately, and contrary to what you may have heard, there are no provisions in this bill prohibiting firearms or ammunition anywhere, or for anyone.
The only reference in the bill to firearms is a provision authorizing funds for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (BATFE) "Project Gunrunner," which is a program that enforces existing laws to reduce smuggling of firearms from the United States to Mexico. This program imposes no new restrictions on gun owners, and if it did, we can assure you we would take swift action.
Needless to say, NRA, as a single-issue organization, takes no position on the economic stimulus legislation as a whole.
For more information and to read the legislation yourself, you can visit the following sites:
http://www.house.gov/billtext/hr1_legtext_cr.pdf, and
http://www.house.gov/billtext/hr1_legtext_crb.pdf(Please note that, due to the length of the text, the final bill must be viewed in two parts.)
Copyright 2009, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action.
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