The omnibus spending bill, which was allowed to come up for a vote by House Speaker Mike Johnson last week, includes funding for a new federal agency within the Justice Department that will seek to prevent individuals from exercising their Second Amendment rights by categorizing them as a “threat.”

The existence of the newly created National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center was announced by the DOJ, along with a statement from Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“The launch of the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center will provide our partners across the country with valuable resources to keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others,” he said in a statement.

He continued, “The establishment of the Center is the most recent illustration of the Justice Department’s work to use every tool available by the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to protect communities from gun violence.”

The objective of the center is to “provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals responsible for implementing laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others,” the DOJ’s announcement said.

“ERPO laws, which are modeled off domestic violence protection orders, create a civil process allowing law enforcement, family members (in most states), and medical professionals or other groups (in some states) to petition a court to temporarily prohibit someone at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing and possessing firearms for the duration of the order,” the DOJ added.

Justice Department Launches the National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center

🔗: https://t.co/xH1deJu4SB pic.twitter.com/zUj0woxwrf

— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) March 23, 2024

The announcement was quickly seized upon by Republicans, like Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who suggested that members of Congress were unaware that the authorization and funding for the new center were included in the spending bill.

“What the hell is this evil? A Federal Red Flag center; We did not authorize this. Announced, of course, just hours after the omnibus passes,” he wrote on the X platform.

Conservatives have frequently criticized so-called “red flag laws” because many studies show they haven’t been effective and because they are blatant violations of constitutional due process.