Boebert offers bill to repeal bipartisan gun control measures

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has introduced a bill to repeal bipartisan gun control measures passed by the last Congress.

Boebert’s proposed bill, the Shall Not Be Infringed Act, would “repeal the gun control provisions and every Second Amendment infringement” that was passed and by the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Biden.

That includes the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2023, and the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, according to the bill.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was touted as the most significant legislation to address gun violence in nearly 30 years. Biden signed the legislation into law last June.

The bill enhanced background checks for gun purchasers between the age of 18 and 21, made obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking a federal offense and incentivized states to pass red flag laws, which seek to keep guns away from people deemed a threat to themselves or others, among other provisions.

The legislation was drafted in response to a string of mass shootings that occurred in the U.S. last year, which included massacres at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Beobert’s bill would also repeal provisions from the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill such as cutting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive’s 14.1 percent budget increase, defunding federal programs that track where veterans are storing their guns, and efforts to promote so-called safe storage. 

Boebert’s proposed legislation was co-sponsored by 16 other GOP lawmakers including Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). 

“I unapologetically support the Second Amendment. No amount of gun control will ever eliminate evil in our society, and unsurprisingly, the data has shown time and again that gun control does not decrease gun violence,” Boebert said in a statement.

“It is ironic that the same people who are calling to defund the police also want to leave everyday Americans defenseless. I will always stand against this nonsense and stand for law-abiding Americans and the Constitution.”