The decision to halt firearm exports for 90 days was revealed by the Biden administration in a news dump published late on Friday afternoon.
The Gun Control Industry’s largest backer’s “news” outlet reported this with pleasure.
The department late Friday announced the pause in approval of new export licenses for the commercial sale of semiautomatic and non-automatic firearms around the world. The freeze doesn’t apply to Israel, Ukraine and about 40 other countries that are part of an export-control agreement. But it does cover some of the biggest markets for American gunmakers, including Brazil, Thailand and Guatemala, where a Bloomberg News investigation documented the impact US government support for weapons sales has had on those countries.
“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 said in announcing the pause.
The White House’s announcement on a Friday night, when it would cause the least amount of media attention, is just the latest tactic in its three-year war on gun rights and the American firearms industry, which the desiccated husk who occasionally sits behind the Resolute Desk has called “the enemy.”
Under constant pressure from the gun control industry, the Biden administration has been working to restrict access to weapons and regulate various facets of the firearms business since day one in office. To cite only a few examples, consider the following: a White House ministry of gun control; a prohibition on pistol braces; the removal of funding from schools that offer hunting safety programs; and the redefining of the frame and receiver of firearms.
One more pleasant coincidence, if you will. Coincidentally, the Commerce Department’s decision to suspend its sponsorship for the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s SHOT Show from January 23rd through the 26th was announced with the 90-day “pause” in export licensing.
Since the Trump administration moved control of gun exports from the anti-gun State Department to the more business-friendly Commerce Department in 2020, hard-line anti-gunners have been fuming.
They have long been dissatisfied with what they see as a lack of effort on the part of the BidenBots to limit exports. Now, with the election rapidly approaching and the president’s support numbers plummeting, the administration is offering them another bone.
Critics of the rule change praised the department’s decision. “For too long, firearms from the United States have contributed to violence and instability abroad,” said Representative Joaquin Castro, who with Senator Elizabeth Warren has sought answers for more than a year from the Biden administration about the increase in approvals of assault weapons export licenses.
“This 90-day pause and review on small arms exports is a welcome announcement by the Commerce Department,” added Castro, a Texas Democrat. “I look forward to engaging with the Department during this review so US policy moves in the right direction.”
The gun industry’s successful strategies to increase global sales of its products — in combination with friendly US policies — have been the subject of a months-long investigation by Bloomberg. The investigation began in July with an examination of gun sales to Thailand, where a US-made semiautomatic pistol was used last year in one of the world’s worst mass killings. A story published Oct. 19 documented the lavish support the Commerce Department gives SHOT Show, including steering more than 3,200 international buyers to the event this year.
Firearm exports are subject to stringent regulations and legal authorization. It would appear that the Commerce Department was doing too good a job of promoting a controversial American industry.
Someone on Constitution Avenue didn’t receive the news that helping to broker the export of weapons is now considered trading with the enemy by the White House.