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EXCLUSIVE: House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik is introducing legislation aimed at promoting gun training and safety in the wake of several mass shootings across the United States.
Stefanik is joined by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., in introducing the “Firearm Proficiency and Training Act” Tuesday, which is intended to counter the Democrats’ proposed gun control mandates.
The GOP lawmakers say that their bill will empower Americans’ “training, safety, and storage” of firearms, rather than “forcing” them to do so through anticipated Democratic proposals.
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“As Democrats rush to push their radical gun control agenda, I am proud to lead the charge in introducing legislation to promote gun training and safety,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital.
Democrats and many media pundits attempted to blame Republicans and conservatives, such as Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., for the tragic mass shooting in Buffalo.
(Tom Williams/Getty)
“This bill will empower gun owners by incentivizing them to purchase gun safety and storage equipment as well as training and safety courses. Congress should enable all Americans to safely exercise their Second Amendment rights, rather than infringe upon the Constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens,” the New York Republican continued.
The legislation would offer tax deductions for Americans who enroll in concealed carry firearms courses, or other gun safety classes, or buy secure gun safety devices to store weapons. The tax incentives would not exceed $250 for each deduction.
In addition, the text of the bill states that “no taxpayer shall be required, as a condition of any deduction allowed under this section, to provide any information with respect to any firearms owned by the taxpayer” and no government official may keep any record of the deduction after three years.
The proposed Republican-led legislation is unlikely to pass the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives and the 50/50 divided Senate.
Congress’ push for gun legislation comes after a shooter killed 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket in an apparently racially-motivated attack and a gunman killed 19 children and two adults in an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. There was another mass shooting that killed four people last week at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, hospital.
Children run to safety after escaping from a window during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School where a gunman killed nineteen children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas, U.S. May 24, 2022.
(Pete Luna/Uvalde Leader-News/Handout via REUTERS)
Democratic lawmakers held an emergency meeting last week to mark up the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” a package of eight bills aimed at suppressing gun ownership and implementing new firearm laws for Americans. The bills contain proposals to raise the minimum age for purchasing a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21, ban “high capacity magazines,” establish a registry for bump stocks and more.
However, more than 20 House Democrats pressed Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to split their party’s omnibus gun control package into several bills and allow votes on each in order to increase their chance of becoming law.
A banner hangs at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School on Friday, June 3.
(AP/Eric Gay)
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On the other side of the Capitol, a bipartisan group of senators is working on coming together on a gun safety package. If an agreement is reached among the senators, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, promised: “If we reach an agreement, law-abiding gun owners will not be impacted at all.”
Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
