On March 5th U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick urging him to rescind an interim final rule (IFR) that the Biden Administration promulgated in an effort to hamstring the domestic firearms industry.
In October 2023, President Biden ordered a 90 day “pause” on firearm exports licenses issued by the Department of Commerce. This order was in lock-step with other actions taken by the Biden Administration to hinder the U.S. domestic firearms industry in any way possible. And unsurprisingly, at the end of this “pause” the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an IFR in April 2024. This IFR placed much tighter restrictions on semi-automatic firearms exports, listed dozens of countries as “high risk” countries which would be subject to a “presumption of denial” for export permits, removed a “presumption of approval” for licenses to many countries that had helped to expedite the process previously, and a number of other restrictions. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, an organization that represents firearms manufacturers, stated that this decision would cost the industry nearly $500 million annually.
For decades, gun control groups have sought to damage and even destroy the domestic firearms industry as a way to undermine the Second Amendment rights of Americans. When they have been rebuffed at their attempts to undermine our rights by the legislature, they have sought to use courts and administrative procedures to instead cripple the firearms industry, and this is yet another example of that.
In response to this egregious attempt to undermine the domestic firearms industry, Senator Lee and Representative Green authored a bicameral letter urging Secretary Lutnick to repeal this disastrous rule in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order to restore the full protections of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for the American People. “The NRA applauds Senator Lee and Representative Green’s efforts, along with President Trump’s Executive Order to repeal the Biden Administration’s attacks on the law-abiding U.S. firearms industry,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of NRA-ILA. “This interim final rule does nothing to advance safety, either here or abroad. Instead, it’s just another attempt among many to weaken the U.S. firearms industry and anything related to the Second Amendment.”
Speaking on this effort, Senator Lee stated, “For too long, federal agencies have tried to constrict our Second Amendment rights indirectly, in this case by hurting law-abiding gun manufacturers by severely limiting their ability to export firearms. I look forward to the Trump administration rectifying this unjust rule pushed by Joe Biden’s bureaucrats.”
Representative Green stated, “The Biden-Harris administration’s interim final rule on issuance and renewal of export licenses for certain firearms, related components, and ammunition has now lasted almost a year. With the confirmation of Secretary Lutnick, I trust that this IFR will come to an end. BIS’s actions cost American firearm manufacturers over $500 million annually. It’s time to end this attack on the Second Amendment, and I look forward to immediate action from the Department of Commerce.”
Senator Lee and Representative Green were joined on this letter by 86 of their colleagues. Your NRA-ILA will continue to update you as the Trump Administration continues to roll back these disastrous anti-Second Amendment policies that were enacted during the Biden Administration.
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