18 Republican Senators Voted for Gun Control-Laden Violence Against Women Act

The Senate passed the gun control-laden Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act (VAWA) as part of the Appropriations Bill late last week, a passage made possible because of Republican support.

To be more specific, the passage was possible because of the votes of 18 Republican senators.

The bill required 60 votes to pass, and that threshold would have been an impossibility without Republican support.

Gun control aficionado Dianne Feinstein (D) praised Republican Senators Joni Ernst (IA) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) by name, thanking them not only for their votes but for their work in authoring VAWA.

The other 16 Republicans whose votes put VAWA through are:

• Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
• Sen. Shelley Capito (R-WV)
• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
• Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
• Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
• Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
• Sen. Robert Portman (R-OH)
• Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL)
• Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
• Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
• Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)

Gabby Giffords’ gun control outlet, Giffords, praised the Senate’s passage of VAWA, citing the numerous gun controls contained therein.

For example, the text of VAWA empowers the Attorney General to “deputize State, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement officers for the purpose of enhancing the capacity of the agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.”

Ammoland points out that the power to deputize local law enforcement to act as ATF puts various state-level Second Amendment Preservation Acts at risk. Those acts typically bar local law enforcement from using state funds to enforce federal gun controls, but allowing local personnel to work as ATF proxies could be a loophole.

Giffords notes that VAWA also gives the ATF $47 million in additional funding for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network and contains the NICS Denial Notification Act of 2021.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) warned about the gun controls in VAWA just days before the Senate passed it:

The bill also attacks the Second Amendment.

VAWA seeks to open criminal investigations into anyone who receives a NICS denial (90%+ of which are false positives!).

It also allows the Biden DOJ to deputize state and local law enforcement to be agents in ATF investigations. pic.twitter.com/FJsi88cM2K

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) March 9, 2022

Yet 18 Republican Senators voted for the Appropriations Bill containing the gun control-laden VAWA.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.