Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Mark Green introduced a bill Wednesday that would end the Biden administration’s pause on export licenses for civilian firearms.
The U.S. Department of Commerce instituted in late October a 90-day freeze on most export licenses for civilian firearms, components and ammunition to “advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests” — a decision Republicans called “unprecedented.” Green’s bill, the ‘‘Protect American Gun Exporters Act,’’ would halt the agency action and prevent “substantially similar” ones in the future without proper procedure.
“If President Biden is not capable or willing to keep federal bureaucrats in check, Congress will,” Green told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Department of Commerce’s actions are beyond the pale. My bill holds the administration accountable for this clear overreach.”
Green, joined by 87 other Republican lawmakers, sent a letter earlier this month calling on the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to end the pause. (RELATED: Federal Court Finds State’s Handgun License Law Unconstitutional)
Semi-automatic shotguns are displayed for sale on shelves at the McBride Guns Inc. store on August 25, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“As long as evil persists, there will always be a need for good people to defend themselves and their loved ones,” the letter said. “The need for the Second Amendment was not limited to the American Revolution nor the American Republic…Not only does BIS’s pause on firearms export licenses leave people even more vulnerable, but it will also push buyers to look elsewhere to meet their customers’ demands.”
Along with stopping the pause, Green’s bill prohibits the Department of Commerce from taking similar actions without adhering to normal rulemaking procedures that allow time for notice, public comment and communication with stakeholders. It also requires Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to conduct a regulatory impact analysis for any such policy.
BIS said in its Oct. 27 announcement that the pause is necessary to “more effectively assess and mitigate risk of firearms being diverted to entities or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities.” Republicans raised concerns in their letter that the rule took effect without advance notice.
“Broad mandates, no comment period, few details, and the massive caveat that BIS retains the authority to do virtually anything else it deems appropriate are not characteristics of a democratic republic,” the letter stated.
“So long as the radical left attempts to undermine Americans’ lawful right to buy and sell firearms, conservatives will be there to stop them,” Green told the DCNF.
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