Rep. Green's move to null Firearms Rule advances

A joint resolution of Congress to void and nullify the Commerce Department's “Revision of Firearms License Requirements” (89 Fed. Reg. 34680) passed out of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs July 11 on a vote of 24 to 23.

Sponsored by Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn), the motion is a companion to his“Stop the Bureaucratic Ineptitude Shuttering Respectable and Upstanding Lawful Exporters Act” or the “Stop the BIS Rule Act” (HR 8208) introduced in May.

“After months of fighting, I'm pleased my resolution to overturn the Biden administration's interim final rule banning firearm exports was ordered to be reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Congress must push back against the Biden administration's attacks on the Second Amendment," said the lawmaker.

While the rule does not "ban firearms exports," it does impose stricter licensing requirements on sales to civilian buyers in countries deemed unruly by Commerce and the State Department.

Like a bill, a joint resolution requires the approval of both Chambers, so while the propects of a timely repeal or suspension of the rule are remote, the measure does provide lawmakers an opportunity to demonstrate their Second Amendment bona fides in an election year.

Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued the interim final rule on firearm exports on April 30, 2024. Under the Interim Final Rule, firearm export licenses are reduced from a four-year lifespan to just one year. The rule introduces three new Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCN) for semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns.

Licenses will be approved on a case-by-case basis that will consider foreign policy, national security risk factors, government corruption, diversion of firearms and human rights abuses among other criteria.

BIS is stating there will be a presumption of denial for firearm export licenses to those countries identified by the State Department as “at risk,” which include 36 countries – mostly in Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asian countries.

In an earlier statement, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry trade group, criticized the administrations "deepening contempt toward the firearm industry." 

"This is a wholesale attack on the industry that provides the means for Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights," said Larry Keane, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs for the NSSF.