House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking member in the GOP leadership, is introducing legislation to promote gun training and safety following several mass shootings throughout the U.S.
Republican Reps. Richard Hudson of North Carolina and Carol Miller from West Virginia are joining Stefanik in introducing the “Firearm Proficiency and Training Act,” Fox News reported.
This legislation is meant to still promote gun safety, but counter Democratic proposals for gun control mandates.
“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.
These Republican representatives say their proposed bill empowers Americans’ “training, safety, and storage” of firearms rather than attacking firearms ownership.
The legislation would incentivize Americans to follow gun safety protocols by offering 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.
The bill also 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.”
The bill also restricts government officials from keeping any record of the deduction after three years.
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“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,” Stefanik said, according to Fox.
The overall congressional push for gun safety legislation has intensified after the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Democrats have pushed particularly hard for bans and have been quickly putting together legislation.
The “Protecting Our Kids Act,” for instance, is a Democratic package of eight bills with the goal of limiting gun ownership and implementing new firearm laws for Americans.
Under these bills, Democrats want to raise the minimum age for purchasing semi-automatic rifles or shotguns to 21. The current age minimum for rifles or shotguns sold by federally licensed firearms vendors is 18.
Part of the “Protecting Our Kids Act” would also ban “high capacity magazines” and require registration for bump stocks.
Now, Republicans like Stefanik are also working on putting together gun legislation.
The GOP proposals likely have little chance of passing in the current Democratic-controlled House, but with midterm elections expected to go badly for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s party, things could be different in the 118th Congress.
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