Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Trump Administration Completes Pro-Gun Regulatory Reform

Monday, February 3, 2020

Trump Administration Completes Pro-Gun Regulatory Reform

Thanks to President Trump, small businesses and individual gun owners will no longer suffer the longstanding roadblocks imposed by America’s Cold War-era “export” regime for firearms, ammunition, and related accessories. The chronology of this transformation—and its relevance to Second Amendment rights—warrants some attention.

As with most bureaucratic endeavors, America’s export rules were built upon professions of good intent; our country wished to protect its most sensitive military technology from falling into enemy hands. But the export rules themselves ignored the overlap that naturally exists when goods are capable of both military and non-military uses. Radar systems, for example, are commonly utilized by civilian and military vessels. Another obvious example: firearms and ammunition. Items that were capable of dual use (i.e., military and non-military use) were therefore termed “dual-use” items by export control professionals. This should have been simple enough. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic hostility toward firearms and ammunition soon crept in.

Because most household items could—at least theoretically—be stretched to resemble something with military potential, the export law slapped the strictest regulations and oversight onto inherently military equipment. By limiting bureaucracy’s reach to warfighting equipment, politicians reassured American industry of its continued dominance in foreign markets, free of overly burdensome red-tape. Export oversight of these items was ultimately delegated to 2 departments: the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Commerce Department.

The U.S. State Department was tasked with administering the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR), where regulated items were itemized on the U.S. Munitions List (USML). Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department used the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to regulate items via the agency’s Commerce Control List (CCL).

Although regulated items on the USML were reportedly pared-down to those that “provide the United States with a critical military or intelligence advantage” or, in the case of weapons “are inherently for military end use,” the government increasingly restricted whatever made the USML list. One official described it as building “a taller fence around a smaller yard.”

Compliance became a veritable minefield. Any business hoping to manufacture the most basic component of an item on the USML was forced to register with the State Department and pay a $2,250 annual fee. These regulatory burdens soon fell upon every small business making firearm components; making small springs and screws for guns exposed your business to heavy regulation, regardless of whether you actually exported anything outside the U.S. As the costs of regulatory compliance climbed, so did prices.

The problems for American gun owners only increased when the Obama administration folded gunsmithing into its regulatory definition of “manufacturing.” This maneuver triggered State Department registration for those performing common gunsmithing operations on existing firearms. Because many gunsmiths could not afford ITAR’s registration and compliance costs, the result was not only foreseeable, but intentional: many gunsmiths and gunsmithing schools were quickly driven out of business.

As the USML’s scope extended beyond physical items and onto “technical data” about items, the government began to regulate blueprints, diagrams, and service manuals. The State Department also began treating the online publication of such information as the equivalent of an “export” requiring prior approval. Before too long—and unconcerned by the Constitutional implications—the State Department was threatening to flex ITAR jurisdiction over everyone who dared to “publish” a parts diagram or handloading formula online.

The Trump administration reforms are poised to finally relieve these bureaucratic pressures. Most firearms and ammunition, as well as their parts, components and accessories, would now be managed under the business-friendly CCL instead of the oppressive USML. The aforementioned problems for non-exporting manufacturers, gunsmiths, and those who publish technical data about such items on the web would no longer exist. In the absence of such weights, America’s exporting manufacturers are free to run more competitively among the global markets.

When it comes to the business of firearms, America’s regulatory approach is finally returning to its baseline commitment: American security. Exports will continue to require licenses and multi-agency review to safeguard against harm, alongside compliance with importing country’s laws. Regulations that favored unscrupulous overseas competitors weren’t what America needed—our security interests are much better served when foreign arms sales are handled by U.S. companies possessing an unrivaled record of compliance, transparency and freedom to perform at their best.

With export reform, President Trump has provided yet another win for Second Amendment advocates.

From the Director Articles
FROM
WITHIN
Ban All Guns, Anti-Second Amendment People Say

News  

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Ban All Guns, Anti-Second Amendment People Say

In typical collectivist fashion, The New York Times editorial board recently labeled an entire generation as gun control supporters and ...

Ban All Guns, Anti-Second Amendment People Say

News  

Friday, June 1, 2018

Ban All Guns, Anti-Second Amendment People Say

No summary available

News  

Monday, May 21, 2018

Gun Control Supporters Are Counting on Appeasement

“The notion that I, or Hillary, or Democrats, or whoever you want to choose, are hell-bent on taking ...

Gun Owners Set Up to Take the Fall for a Crime They Did Not Commit

News  

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Gun Owners Set Up to Take the Fall for a Crime They Did Not Commit

“Reasonable restrictions.” “Gun violence prevention.” “Gun safety measures.” “Keeping firearms out of the wrong hands.” “#gunsense.” However gun ...

Gun Control Supporters Are Counting On Appeasement

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Gun Control Supporters Are Counting On Appeasement

We know where the gun control measures that our opposition markets as “common sense” lead, because our opponents have told ...

A Pro-Gun Majority in U.S. House Will Preserve American Freedom

News  

Friday, March 30, 2018

A Pro-Gun Majority in U.S. House Will Preserve American Freedom

The framers of the Constitution specifically designed the U.S. House of Representatives to give the population of each ...

Preemption Protects Gun Owners

News  

Friday, March 30, 2018

Preemption Protects Gun Owners

Anti-gun activists are acutely aware that preemption laws are all that stand in the way of their agenda ...

News  

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Government Investigation Torpedoes Anti-Gunners’ “Online Gun Sales” Narrative

Last November, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) –the “audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress” – released a ...

News  

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Trump Slump? More Fake News from the Mainstream Media

At times, the biased media are so eager for a certain result they seem determined to conjure it ...

Trump Slump? More Fake News Appears In Mainstream Media

News  

Second Amendment  

Monday, February 26, 2018

Trump Slump? More Fake News Appears In Mainstream Media

Rather than pose a threat, Trump and his administration have taken vital steps to secure a vibrant future ...

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.