The Biden administration has cost U.S. gun dealers roughly $1 million a day in sales for nearly a month, without explaining exactly why.
Florida Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, along with almost all other Republicans in the Senate, want an answer.
As reported Wednesday by the website Florida Daily, Scott, and Rubio joined more than 40 other Senate Republicans in demanding that Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo explain why her agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security applied an immediate halt to granting export licenses for most overseas weapons sales, including for parts and ammunition.
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On Oct. 27, the department announced an immediate “pause” on such transactions for “all non-governmental end users worldwide.” The ban was scheduled to run for 90 days and does not apply to buyers in Ukraine, Israel and other select countries allied to the U.S.
But GOP lawmakers are not happy with Raimondo’s vague explanation for the action.
In a press release announcing the sales halt, the Biden administration said its review would “assess current firearm export control review policies to determine whether any changes are warranted to advance U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”
“The review will be conducted with urgency and will enable the Department 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,” the department added.
In their letter, Scott, Rubio, and other GOP senators indicated they appreciated weapons could still flow to friendly sources in hotspots such as Ukraine and Israel.
“However,” they added, “we also recognize the significance of exports that are now put on pause by the Department’s announcement. Those sales “constitute a significant percentage of overall U.S. firearm exports.”
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Thus, “This pause puts at stake U.S. commercial and economic interests, as well as those business interests of firearm exporters whose pending exports are now subject to pause, in addition to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”
The lawmakers cited a study by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms and ammunition industry trade association that said the “pause” would cost gun dealers at least $89 million.
If it continues, the industry could lose as much as $238 million a year if the “pause” becomes permanent.
“It is our understanding that the Department has never before imposed such a 90-day pause on such a wide range of firearms exports,” they wrote. “We have significant concerns about the justifications for and ramifications of this pause.”
Aside from the “severe negative economic impact,” senators said they were concerned that the “unmet demand” for weapons will be satisfied by “less scrupulous, professional, or conscientious sources of supply,” and “thereby strengthening illicit arms markets.”
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They then gave Raimondo until Nov. 30 to answer several vital questions.
In addition to detailed data about the licensing process, the answers lawmakers want include:
A reason for the “pause” that specifically identifies the risk to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
Specific situations where these overseas deals contribute to regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities.
Whether the department actually explained to the firearms industry the situation and impact of the “pause” before Oct. 27.
Whether the agency engaged with “advocacy organizations” — presumably those against such sales or with an anti-gun ideology — prior to Oct. 27.
What estimate, if any, the department has of the potential economic loss, measured in revenue or jobs, to the U.S. firearms industry.
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