	Introduction

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the lead federal law enforcement agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to firearms and explosives commerce. ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal nexus, and criminal cases involving the diversion of alcohol and tobacco from legal channels of commerce. As an agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ), ATF is funded through an annual appropriation in the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act. Through this system, the FBI facilitates an electronic background check process to determine the firearms eligibility of unlicensed, private persons seeking to acquire firearms from federally licensed gun dealers, or firearms licenses or permits from state or local authorities. This report also includes a brief discussion of a controversial annual appropriations limitation that Congress has placed on CDC for 20 years that prohibits the use of appropriated funding to "advocate or promote gun control." For FY2017, the Obama Administration requested $1.306 billion for ATF. This amount was $18.6 million above the FY2016 appropriation and $47.5 million below the request. 115-31 . 115-31 ), Congress appropriated $1.259 billion for ATF, about $47 million less than the Obama Administration's budget request. Like the FY2017 continuing resolutions described above, P.L. If appropriated, this amount would have been $66.1 million above the FY2016 appropriation. This amount included $11.8 million and 73 full-time equivalents in technical and base adjustments to anticipate inflation and other variable costs. It also included $54.3 million, 155 full-time equivalents, and 230 permanent positions in budget enhancements. As part of President Barack Obama's gun safety initiative, these budget enhancements included
$35.6 million for ATF to hire 80 additional special agents and 120 industry operations investigators; $4.0 million (including 8 positions) to upgrade the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) and ballistic imaging hardware and software; $5.7 million and 22 positions to help process federal firearms and explosives licenses and National Firearms Act (NFA) applications, and expand the use of firearms trace data by ATF and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies; and $9.0 million to integrate ATF's disparate case management systems into a Next Generation Case Management system. The FY2017 budget request also called for the repeal of two appropriations limitations that have prevented ATF from requiring federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to inventory their gun stocks prior to annual inspections and changing an administrative definition of "curios and relics." In addition, the President Obama's gun safety initiative included
$35.0 million for the FBI to address an increase in firearms background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System; $50.0 million for the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP); $5.0 million for NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP); and $10.0 million for gun violence research. NICS was established by the FBI in November 1998 to facilitate firearms background checks. Through both NCHIP and NARIP, the DOJ Office of Justice Programs provides grants to states, tribes, and territories to improve NICS accessibility to records on persons prohibited from acquiring firearms under federal or state law. Congress did not accept the Obama Administration's request to repeal these limitations in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 ( P.L. Selected Data Trends That Could Have Affected ATF Workloads

Below is discussion of selected, year-to-year data trends that could have affected and may continue to affect ATF workloads, such as the number and type of federal firearms licensees, growth in the civilian gun stock, and firearms-related violent crime rates. The Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 110-180 . Gun Violence Prevention Research

For FY2017, the Obama Administration requested $10 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to sponsor research into preventing and ameliorating gun violence. Appendix. 115-31 ), Congress included words of futurity in these two additional provisions. 115-31 ).
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the lead federal agency charged with administering and enforcing federal laws related to firearms and explosives commerce. ATF is also responsible for investigating arson cases with a federal nexus, and criminal cases involving the diversion of alcohol and tobacco from legal channels of commerce. As an agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ), ATF is funded through an annual appropriation in the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act. For FY2017, Congress has appropriated $1.259 billion for ATF in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (P.L. 115-31), about $47.5 million less than the Obama Administration's budget request and $18.6 million more than the FY2016 appropriation.
This report chronicles the FY2017 appropriations cycle for ATF and other gun control initiatives, including legislative histories for several ATF funding limitations related to firearms. It also includes discussion of year-to-year data trends that could affect ATF workloads, such as the number and type of federal firearms licensees (FFLs), growth in the civilian gun stock, and firearms-related violent crime.
The Obama Administration's FY2017 budget request included $1.306 billion for ATF. This amount was $66.1 million above the FY2016 appropriation. This proposed increase included $11.8 million in technical and base adjustments to anticipate inflation and other variable costs and $54.3 million in budget enhancements. As part of President Barack Obama's gun safety initiative, these budget enhancements included
$35.6 million for ATF to hire 80 additional special agents and 120 industry operations investigators; $4 million (including 8 positions) to upgrade the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) hardware and software; $5.7 million and 22 positions to process firearms and explosives licenses and National Firearms Act (NFA) applications, and expand the use of firearms trace data by ATF and other federal and state law enforcement agencies; and $9 million to integrate ATF's case management systems into a single system.
The FY2017 budget request called for the repeal of two limitations that prevent ATF from (1) requiring FFLs to inventory their gun stocks prior to inspection and (2) changing an administrative definition of "curios and relics." In P.L. 115-31, Congress maintained these and other firearms-related limitations/provisos (appropriations riders) described in an Appendix to this report. Two additional provisos appear to have been made permanent law by the inclusion of "words of futurity," like "hereafter," "henceforward," and "this and any other fiscal year."
In addition, President Obama's gun safety initiative included
$35 million for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to address an increase in firearms background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); $55 million for grants to state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) and NICS Amendments Record Improvement Program (NARIP; P.L. 110-180); and $10 million for gun violence prevention research.
NICS was established in 1998 by the FBI to facilitate an electronic background check process to determine firearms eligibility of unlicensed, private persons seeking to acquire firearms from FFLs, or firearms permits and licenses from state authorities. Through both NCHIP and NARIP, the DOJ provides grants to states, tribes, and territories to improve NICS access to records on persons prohibited from acquiring firearms under federal or state law. According to the Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 244 (P.L. 115-31), Congress provided funding to support NICS fully, and $73 million for NICS improvement grants. However, Congress did not provide the funding requested for gun violence prevention research. In addition, Congress maintained a limitation in P.L. 115-31 that continues to prohibit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies from using appropriated funding to advocate or promote gun control.