U.S. HOUSE PASSES SPENDING BILL FOR JUSTICE, ATF

The U.S. House of Representatives late last week passed the FY2015 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which funds, among other agencies, the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Included in the bill was a $3 million competitive grant program for firearms safety kits and gun locks.

Additionally, the report that accompanied the bill included a section that expressed the need for ATF to dedicate more resources to their customer service branch to address the backlog of forms for NFA items, marking variances and imports. An amendment to add an additional $19.5 million to the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was also approved. The Senate is expected to begin consideration of its version of the bill at the subcommittee level this week.—courtesy National Shooting Sports Foundation