A group of Congressional Democrats are raising questions with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo over her department’s failure to release data on its approvals of assault weapons exports.
The lawmakers are calling on Commerce to publicly release approval data and respond to their year-old request for information about Commerce’s increase in approvals.
The letter was signed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Reps. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Norma Torres (D-Calif) and Dan Goldman (D-NY).
“In March 2020, the Trump administration transferred oversight of [assault weapons exports] from the State Department to Commerce, after which the value of assault weapon export license approvals immediately shot up by roughly 30 percent, profiting gun manufacturers while putting civilians at risk around the world,” they wrote.
“This problem may be getting worse – yet your Department has not published updated annual data – which will soon be a full year late – or responded to a congressional inquiry,” they continued.
“Meanwhile, new reporting indicates that the Department continues to serve as a ‘booster and concierge’ to the firearm industry – promoting exports of deadly weapons that find their way into the hands of terrorists and human rights abusers to be used in brutal killings across the globe.”
In the letter, the lawmakers said Commerce does not appear to be fully using its statutory and regulatory discretion to weigh human rights, crime control and civil disorder impacts in its evaluation of license applications for assault weapons exports.
The lawmakers urged Commerce to promptly publish its delayed 2021-2022 assault weapons export approval data and respond to their September 2022 letter’s questions by September 19, 2023.
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