Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced legislation aimed at nullifying the Biden administration’s recent ban on gun exports, The Floridian reported.
In late October, the Bureau of Industry and Security announced a 90-day ban on the export of guns, ammo, and components and said it would not issue new export licenses to manufacturers looking to export certain firearms, ammo, or components to private entities except those in Israel in Ukraine.
During its 90-day ban, the bureau said it would be reviewing policies on firearm export control to determine whether they serve the United States’ national security and foreign policy interests. It explained that it is focused primarily on preventing the export of firearms to countries that contribute to “regional instability,” fuel criminal activities, or violate human rights.
In a December 18 press release, Senator Lee described the pause on firearm export licenses as arbitrary and lacking “both justification and necessity.”
Lee’s bill, the Protect American Gun Exports Act, seeks to guard firearms manufacturers “against capricious policy shifts that unfairly target livelihoods simply because of industry affiliation,” the press release said.
Co-sponsoring the legislation in the Senate are Republicans John Thune of South Dakota, Steve Daines of Montana, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Rick Scott of Florida.
According to Senator Thune, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s action was another attempt by the Biden administration “to hamstring the American firearms industry.” He said in the press release that the legislation would protect American jobs and “weaken illicit arms dealers.”
Senator Scott blasted the Biden administration for its continued “assault on the Second Amendment,” and accused it of putting “politics above the Constitution.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) has introduced a companion bill in the House that he said would require the Commerce Department to “do the job laid out for it by Congress” to bolster “the American business community” rather than engage in an “anti-gun power grab.”
