The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) specifies the budget and expenditures for the US military for the year, and is a requirement of every yearly legislative session. When President Obama vetoed the current NDAA in October one small section of the plan that was a casualty would have allowed army surplus 1911 pistols to e part of the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP.) We believe Congress should override that veto so that provision can take effect.
The CMP is an important program that promotes civilian marksmanship, education, safety and youth programs. And through its re-furbishing and retail sales program it has been responsible for bringing thousands of shooters around the country a chance to own some of our miltary's great service rifles. However, by law the CMP is currently restricted to selling only surplus rifles to U.S. citizens and cannot receive surplus pistols from the military or sell them. The current NDAA would have changed that, but has suffered a veto.
The basis of the veto was attributable to differences with Republican leaders over spending reforms the President has called for. This political infight has put the CMP program in the crossfire and in particular the 1911 program is in serious trouble. If the veto is not overridden, an entirely new version of the NDAA will have to be written and pass both the House and Senate before again heading to the President’s desk. Since the provision to allow the CMP to sell surplus 1911 pistols is such a small part of this important legislation, it’s hard to say whether supporters will fight to keep it in the next version or simply allow it to be cut so as to make the bill more palatable to the President.
We urge Congress to avoid the delay and fight a new bill would bring, and override the veto, saving both the military budget that has already passed both houses and along with it the CMP 1911 pistol program.