Democratic Lawmakers Seek Return of Biden-Era Controls on Firearms Exports
More than 50 congressional Democrats, including Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., urged the Trump administration Oct. 27 to reverse its recent decision to roll back a Biden-era interim final rule that increased restrictions on firearms exports.
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In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the lawmakers said the Trump administration’s move increases the risk that criminals and other bad actors will obtain dangerous weapons.
“The firearms export rule offered a practical solution for addressing the flow of assault weapons to armed criminal and paramilitary groups, particularly throughout Latin America and the Caribbean,” the letter said. “By rescinding the rule, Commerce is empowering the very cartels and criminal organizations that this administration has sought to counter.”
Released in April 2024, the Biden-era rule created a “presumption of denial” for firearms export licenses for 36 countries in which there was a “substantial risk” of diversion or misuse. The Bureau of Industry and Security rescinded the rule in September, saying the presumption of denial was "effectively ceding overseas markets to foreign firearms manufacturers, with no benefit to national security" (see 2509290045 and 2509300007). BIS said it would continue to screen firearms license applications to reduce the risk of weapons ending up in the wrong hands.