The $1.7 trillion Omnibus Spending Bill contained many gun control efforts that 18 Republican Senators voted for

Among the items in the 4,155-page $1.7 trillion spending bill.

— 14 percent budget increase for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Its budget has been increased by 25 percent since the Trump administration. The BATFE is putting thousands of gun dealers out of business for even the most trivial, inconsequential paperwork mistakes.

— $770.8 million in Byrne-Justice Assistance Grants (JAG). JAG is a federal grant program to help states and municipalities with justice-related expenses such as indigent defense, courts, crime prevention, etc. The Omnibus now allows this money to finance red flag laws and extreme risk protection order programs.

— By the beginning of last year, the Biden administration had created a database of over 866 million firearm transactions. The bill allocates $14.4 million to modernize the National Tracing Center (NTC), is part of a plan for the ATF to expand its database of guns and gun owners.

— Strangely, the bill sets aside $50,000 per year for “humanitarian expenses incurred by or for any [ATF] employee thereof (or any member of the employee’s immediate family) that results from or is incident to serious illness, serious injury, or death occurring to the employee while on official duty or business.” Gun Owners of America speculates that this will protect agents when they begin to confiscate guns. But whatever the reason, a reason should be provided.

— $4 million for domestic violence lethality reduction, which it claims will endanger women by discouraging them from exercising their Second Amendment right to defend themselves against domestic abusers.

The 18 Republican Senators who voted for this were.

Blunt – Missouri – not returning

Boozman – Arkansas

Capito – West Virginia

Collins – Maine

Cornyn – Texas

Cotton – Arkansas

Graham – South Carolina

Inhofe – Oklahoma

McConnell – Kentucky

Moran – Kansas

Murkowski – Alaska

Portman – Ohio – not returning

Romney -Utah

Rounds – South Dakota

Shelby – Alabama – not returning

Thune – South Dakota

Wicker – Mississippi

Young – Indiana

9 House Republicans voted for it.

Liz Cheney – not returning

Rodney Davis

Brian Fitzpatrick

Jaime Herrera Beutler

Chris Jacobs – not returning

John Katko

Adam Kinzinger – not returning

Fred Upton – not returning

Steve Womack