An NRA-ILA alert last month detailed how President Donald Trump continues to defend the Second Amendment through decisive executive action. Now, a new development shows that his administration is also cutting off one of the Left’s biggest funding pipelines for gun control — federal “violence prevention” grants that were anything but.
Under Joe Biden, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) funneled over $1.5 billion into so-called “Community Violence Intervention and Prevention” programs — most of which served as Trojan horses for anti-gun advocacy. These taxpayer-funded grants, run through the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, handed millions to progressive nonprofits pushing “gun safety” campaigns and anti–Second Amendment lobbying efforts.
That flow of money has now been stopped. The Trump administration recently cut millions in CVIPI grants for organizations that “do not align with the administration’s priorities.” Instead, federal funding will now focus on real public safety — supporting law enforcement, fighting violent crime, protecting children, and aiding victims of trafficking and assault.
Unsurprisingly, left-wing nonprofits led by the Vera Institute of Justice sued, claiming the cuts were “unconstitutional.” But in July, an Obama-appointed federal judge dismissed the case, finding the groups had no standing and no constitutional claim.
Even more importantly, the administration has now rewritten the grant eligibility rules to keep anti-gun activists from accessing federal funds altogether. The new criteria limit the roughly $34 million in available funds to law enforcement and local government agencies — excluding nonprofit and community-based groups that used the old system to bankroll gun control lobbying.
The new program priorities are clear:
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Directly support law enforcement operations (including immigration enforcement)
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Combat violent crime
Programs that violate or obstruct federal immigration law — or engage in political advocacy — are now explicitly ineligible.
A quick look at past grant recipients shows why this reform was needed. Previous awardees included groups like the Urban Peace Institute, whose board features Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts and partnerships with Everytown, Giffords, and UC Davis’s anti-gun research centers. Others, like Youth Alive! in Oakland, openly lobbied for California gun control bills and even helped push Gov. Newsom’s “gun and ammo tax” (AB 28) into law.
These groups were using taxpayer dollars to advance the same failed, rights-stripping policies they could not sell to voters. That’s now over.
For decades, the Left has blurred the line between “violence prevention” and gun control, using government grants to sustain networks of activists, researchers, and lobbyists dedicated to restricting lawful gun ownership. By redirecting funds toward police and victims — instead of political operatives — the Trump administration is restoring the original intent of public safety funding: stopping criminals, not disarming citizens.
Gun rights supporters should welcome this shift. It means fewer taxpayer-funded attacks on the Second Amendment and more resources for the men and women who actually keep our communities safe.
If anti-gun activists want to continue their crusade, they’ll have to pay for it themselves — not with your money.
