BIS Planning Reversal of Firearms Export Controls
The Bureau of Industry and Security is aiming to roll back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports, two people familiar with the matter said.
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The rule, released in April 2024, created a presumption of denial license review policy for firearms exports to 36 countries -- mostly in the Caribbean, Latin America and Southeast Asia -- in which the Biden administration said there was a “substantial risk” of diversion or misuse (see 2404260054). BIS also reduced the duration of most firearms export licenses from four years to one.
BIS has drafted new regulations to reverse those restrictions, the people said. The rule needs to be cleared by other agencies before it can be published and take effect.
Nearly 90 Republicans called on the Commerce Department in March to rescind the Biden-era rule, saying the controls hurt American businesses (see 2503050071).
Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation said May 29 that his group has expressed its "concerns" to both the Trump administration and Congress about the Biden-era rule, which is "costing our industry $500 million annually, has shuttered U.S. business and cost many U.S. jobs while doing nothing to advance U.S. national security." He said data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shows that "less than 1% of legally exported firearms are ever traced as being used in crime."
Democrats, however, have long urged BIS to do more to curb gun exports and praised the rule last year, with some lawmakers asking the agency to strengthen the restrictions (see 2407170049 and 2401250069).
A BIS spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.