Washington, D.C. -- In a major victory for America's 65 million law-abiding gun owners, the National Rifle Association of America today announced the defeat of the new federal gun tax proposed by the Clinton Administration. Language prohibiting the FBI from levying the tax on new firearm transfers is contained in the massive spending bill signed by the President today.

      "NRA achieved its number one legislative goal for 1998 -- to defeat the gun tax," announced Mr. James Jay Baker, Executive Director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action. "Law-abiding gun owners owe a debt of gratitude to House and Senate leadership, and to Senator Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) whose commitment and hard work were instrumental in achieving this goal."

      The White House and the Federal Bureau of Investigation sought to impose the tax on gun purchasers to fund the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Scheduled to come on line November 30 of this year, the National Instant Check System replaces the Brady Act's 5-day waiting period for handgun purchases. The FBI has no legal authority to charge a fee for NICS checks, and NRA backed the conference agreement to fund the NICS projected operating costs of $42 million through a combination of direct appropriations and existing Department of Justice funds. "We applaud the Congress for recognizing that the financial burden of NICS operations should not fall on the shoulders of law-abiding gun owners," said Baker.

      Baker vowed to hold the Administration to the letter of the law in implementing NICS on November 30. "This is only the first part of the battle. The Administration is also planning to abuse the Instant Check -- and the trust of the nation's gun owners -- by retaining the names of purchasers certified by the system as law-abiding for as long as 18 months." This retention serves no criminal justice purpose, and it violates the clear language of the Brady statute itself, as well the budget provision, which reiterates that such information must be destroyed. "In budget negotiations on this issue, the Administration simply refused to adhere to the letter of the law -- but they haven't issued their final regulations. Now the ball is back in their court, and if their final regulations continue to demand this illegal precursor to national gun registration, we will meet the Administration in court to stop this clear infringement of our rights." Baker noted that other issues may also require judicial adjudication. "The FBI has also proposed exempting the NICS database from the important safeguards of the Federal Privacy Act -- if that final regulation is unchanged, we will also ask the court to decide whether federal agencies can arbitrarily suspend critical safeguards of all Americans' civil and privacy rights."

Other NRA accomplishments in the budget bill:

• NRA applauded the extension of the enormously successful Project Exile to other cities. NRA leadership has lobbied and advertised vigorously to persuade the Administration to take Project Exile nationwide. In Richmond, Virginia, where the program was developed and first put in place, the region adopts a zero-tolerance for gun crimes; federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors work hand-in-hand to prosecute each and every federal firearms violation. Since program inception, Richmond homicide has plummeted 62%. "Project Exile is a shining example of where our crime-fighting focus belongs -- on criminals, not law-abiding citizens," Baker said.
  
  
• Thanks to Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Ia.), the budget bill also reverses an arbitrary regulatory decision by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to redefine certain muzzeloaders as modern firearms. The decision would otherwise have exposed hundreds of thousands of gun owners to prosecution for unknowingly violating the wide-ranging and complicated laws governing the ownership, use and transfer of modern firearms.
  
  
• The gun safety education provision offered by Senator Larry Craig (R-Id.) was also made part of the omnibus spending bill. Defeating a one-size-fits-all trigger lock mandate, the Craig alternative funded a federal gun safety education grant program, and also required that licensed firearm dealers have a variety of gun locking devices available for those customers who choose this method to enhance gun safety in the home. "NRA looks forward to making our tens of thousands of certified instructors available to execute this welcome supplement to NRA's ongoing gun safety education efforts. And licensed firearm dealers are in the best position to provide customers with counsel on whether a gun lock -- and if so, what kind of lock -- is appropriate and safe to use in their situation."
  
  
• Senators Hagel (R-Neb.) and Helms (R-N.C.) were instrumental in restoring language in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) authorization which prevents ACDA from interfering in domestic Second Amendment matters by taking any action to restrict or interfere with acquisition, possession or use of firearms for lawful purposes. Included in ACDA's authorization continuously since the Agency was established in 1963, the prohibition was deleted by the Clinton Administration in 1993. "Some agencies in the Administration have made it clear that they want to take the domestic policy debate out of the Congress and across the globe. This provision reminds them where that debate is supposed to take place -- in the Congress and state legislatures, not in closed meetings of international disarmament activists."
  

      Baker concluded by heralding a variety of other provisions as well. "From the top-line issues of NICS implementation, to the smallest riders restraining the anti-gun agenda of the Clinton White House, the Congress has put a lot of hard work for gun owners into this bill. We're doing everything we can to build on the current pro-gun majority in the upcoming elections, and we look forward to working productively with the 106th Congress when it convenes in January."

=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.

This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org