Commerce Department Plans To Permanently Throttle Exports Of America’s Last Manufacturing Sector

Opinion

Import Export Transport Industry Container Cargo Freight Ship iStock-Tryaging-112453331
iStock-Tryaging

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, is deeply critical of the Interim Final Rule published today by Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) that cements the supposed 90-day firearm export “pause” into permanent policy and creates additional regulatory burdens.

The Biden administration has demonstrated again their deepening contempt toward the firearm industry. This rule entrenches their “whole of government” attack and is intended to hobble the firearm industry’s ability to compete in the international market under the false pretense of advancing U.S. national security.

“The enmity of the Biden administration against the firearm industry and Second Amendment rights is without parallel. This is deeply troubling the lengths to which this administration will go to turn the levers of government against a Constitutionally-protected industry in order to cozy up to special-interest gun control donors,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel.

“The supposed ‘temporary pause’ to review firearm export policies was a farce. It was an effort to buy the administration time to gin up policies that would strike at the heart of the ability of this industry to stay in business. This has been the end goal since President Biden said from the Democratic debate stage that ‘firearm manufacturers are the enemy.’ This is a wholesale attack on the industry that provides the means for Americans exercising their Second Amendment rights.”

The Interim Final Rule was the result of BIS re-examining firearm export licenses in light of national security concerns. That reasoning, however, rings hollow. According to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), only about 1 percent of legally exported firearms are recovered abroad at crime scenes and traced.

The BIS Interim Final Rule would make permanent export freezes sought by the Biden administration when it first announced on Oct. 27, 2023, a “90-day pause” to examine firearm export policy. The pause, which lasted over 180 days, was clearly an attempt to undermine the Export Control Reforms for firearm and ammunition exports that were initiated by the Obama-Biden administration and completed by the Trump administration. The total economic impact of the Interim Final Rule easily exceeds $250 million to U.S. manufacturers and exporters, far above the farcically low estimates BIS has been telling NSSF and the Hill.

Under the Interim Final Rule, firearm export licenses will be reduced from a four-year lifespan to just one year. There will be 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 arbitrarily identified by the State Department as “at risk,” which include 36 countries – mostly in Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asian countries.

All existing previously approved firearm export licenses to so-called “high risk” countries will be revoked 60 days after with the Interim Final Rule takes effect May 30, 2024.

Those U.S. companies with existing firearm export licenses will be required to re-apply for new licenses. The public comment period will remain open until July 1. NSSF is considering its legal options and will simultaneously submit written comments demonstrating the true economic impact and the harm to American businesses, jobs and local economies wrought by this politically-driven policy change.


About The National Shooting Sports Foundation

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org

National Shooting Sports Foundation

55 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DIYinSTL

Calling Biden the most anti-gun president in U.S. history now sounds like an understatement.

Get Out

He’ll be the salesman of the year by selling more guns, ammo and gun related items long before those laws go into effect. He just may start the next run-on guns and ammo.

Mystic Wolf

He goes beyond being anti-American, any person that keeps saying how great china is and how wonderful russia is, is nothing less than a communistto the core.

DIYinSTL

@Oldvet… You mean after Biden? I haven’t read biographies on Wilson or FDR, though Schlesinger’s “The Age of Roosevelt – The Coming of the New Deal” is in one of my ‘to read’ stacks, but from my perspective it would be one of those two. And only Biden and Wilson (2nd term) earn the silent “p” honorific. Considering the present news cycle: I don’t know if they are protesting at Princeton or John Hopkins but as an avowed anti-Semite the protests might make Wilson smile. He was president of Princeton for a while so I do wonder how he would… Read more »

DIYinSTL

@Oldvet – reply waiting on approval so check in tomorrow, same 2A time, same 2a channel.

musicman44mag

I have never witnessed a president so hell bent on disarming a country and destroying anything and everything pertaining to firearms while claiming he supports the 2nd amendment with the exception of cannons which we can have. Thank God his time is short and I pray that we will actually have a fair election and that the real president will take his place where he should have been all this time. Trump 2024 The left is dissing Kristi Noem trying to make her look like a bad person because she supposedly from what I read, killed a goat that would… Read more »

DIYinSTL

I was wondering about your pause in posting “Trump/Noem 2024” . Even the urban dwelling FOX talking heads had unkind remarks on Noem: ‘The puppy should have been given to a shelter.’ ‘She should have hired a professional trainer to correct its bad habits.’ ‘It should have been humanely euthanized by a veterinarian.’ Someone on this site likes to quote Heinlein’s Notebooks of Lazarus Long and so too will I: “When the need arises–and it does–you must be able too shoot your own dog. Don’t farm it out–that doesn’t make it nicer, it makes it worse.” I respect Noem a… Read more »

musicman44mag

Glad I no longer watch that channel.

It takes major balls to be able to do that. I did it for a friend who’s cat needed to be put down and he could not afford to take it to the vet to have it done. It was much different than shooting a deer that I would eat because I really liked that cat.

Trump/Noem 2024 after Trump is done I would vote for her for president much more that any of his competitors that were in this race.

DIYinSTL

I think the ‘waiting for approval’ algorithm is as much random as it is specific words or phrases. I can’t be angry at Frank for taking 17 hours to approve; It’s not like Ammoland has a large staff and I’m sure he is a busy guy.

musicman44mag

It is what it is. We should be thankful we have a sounding board like Ammoland in the first place and just deal with the censoring best we can.

Bob

I took a baby kitten to the vet to be put down. She was hit or run over by some sob in a car which broke her back. Nothing worked from the center of her back to her back end. She was also in pain which had to be terrible. We arrived home from a week or two’s run and found her. She was so happy to see us! We took her to the vet in the hope that she could be made whole. She wasn’t. I cried my heart out for that poor innocent kitten. I do know that… Read more »

Cappy

Interestingly enough, I had a nearly identical experience with a very close friend’s long time cat. And I really liked that cat, too. But, I never thought of it as taking major balls to do it. It was just needing to swallow a bunch of sadness and do a favor for a dear friend. Noem’s confession has probably shot herself in the foot as Trump’s veep choice. It was more egregious than Romney’s dog crate on the roof of his car fiasco. And we know how that played in the media. Granted, I didn’t know the dog, but it certainly… Read more »

musicman44mag

Lol, lets look at Romney. Didn’t he get elected for a senator position again after that?

People forget, people forgive and some people understand.

musicman44mag

Waiting

Wild Bill

As a rancher, with many dumped dogs and adopted horses, here on the ranch, I would have to read in great detail the “need [that} arises”, before I could concur with that statement because the only person that I know that killed their own dog regrets it in the extreme and hates himself for it, even after many years.

Bob

That’s where I am now, even after 25 years (see above). In fact I’m teary eyed at the moment just writing about it.
Funny story about the dumping you mentioned. Where we live there was no humane society in town. We had some dumped cats we needed to get rid of. I called the dog pound and was told, “The best thing I could tell you to do would be to take the cats out of town and let them out at some farmer’s house.” I replied, “I am the farm../click!
We kept the cats

Finnky

Had a friend who I admire greatly who lived outside Mineral Wells. Dumped dogs were always showing up on his 120 acres. At one point he had seven dogs including six labs over a hundred pounds apiece. He told me that when a dog shows up, if it behaves aggressively toward his dogs or family they were summarily executed. Otherwise he’d do his best to place them appropriately or care for them. He did not coddle his dogs like us city dwellers. Even with cheapest dog food available and minimal vet care, those dogs lived good lives and far longer… Read more »

Roland T. Gunner

The puppy SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOVED AND CHERISHED AS HER CHILDRENS PET, WHICH IT WAS! Hell no to that foul bucket of human DNA.

DIYinSTL

So you have read her book and know exactly what she wrote? It was still a little puppy? It was only in the family as the children’s pet? Is every contradictory story in the media about this incident factual? Curious minds want to know.

Get Out

IMOA, she committed political suicide and fell on her own sword when she killed the dog and Billy goat and should be treated as animal abuse. She could have given the dog to someone that could train it properly or just be a family pet. I suppose the Billy goat could have been castrated or given to a farm that could use it for breeding stock.

musicman44mag

Have you ever heard of a retarded dog or an animal that is just plain mean no matter how you treat it? We had a retarded dog we paid 500 dollars for and gave it back to the breeder. I am sure she sold it again and that she never quit going on the carpet, chewing up the furniture, chewing up the mail when it was dropped through the slot and never learning or listening to a command unless you had a treat in your hand and it snaped at the food and never took it gentle. We got another… Read more »

Dry gulched

Shod. Not shoed. And a “horse shoer” is a farrier. Cmon greenhorn, if your gonna bullshit people at least use the right terminology.

musicman44mag

I thought you would not know what a farrier was and they call them horse shoes not horse shods so I always had shoes put on them.

Roverray

It is still a good story…

Dry gulched

I’m no lefty by any stretch and anybody assumes I am is making an ASS out of U and ME. A person can only take so many barn apples and when a call out is needed I respond.

Finnky

Shoed is not wrong – it is an acceptable term for putting shoes on feet. Once you have shoes on, you are shod. Farriers can be fabulous and provide hoof care for horses – whether those horses are shod or not. English is a crazy language with multiple ways to say almost anything. Try not to criticize those who make different word choices – if it is intelligible, it’s fine. Living in Texas I hear (and now use) words quite different from what I’ve heard in either coast. English variants of English can be unintelligible to those such as myself… Read more »

Wild Bill

Animals are not machines. There is no on and off switch on them. With all due respect, what you have described is puppy behavior. They grow out of that chewing and destructiveness, but it takes at least sixteen months and lots of patience. People need to interact with their dog many hours everyday. If one can not put up with that, then give the puppy to someone who understands dogs. As to horses, the owner was stupid. A horse that acts like that does so out of fear. The owner needed to play with the horse’s feet for several hours… Read more »

musicman44mag

Yep, I had a couple I trained using the Buck Brannaman method. Most people back in my day of horses would feed them and let then stand out in field and never work with them or shoe them and might trim them up until it was time to start riding them and then they would break them cowboy style. I was not the old school guy and after watching him at the fair and reading his book on how to train a horse and watching his video’s, it just made more horse sense to do it his way than the… Read more »

Wild Bill

Yes, gentling takes longer, but it is less dangerous for us and less tramatic for the horse.

Get Out

Point is, you gave the dog back and it went on living doing what dogs do, you chose life for an untrainable dog, Noam killed hers.

musicman44mag

That is actually an old practice. I had a cousin who’s wife’s father trained beagles for hunting bear. The men would pay two and sometimes three thousand for a top notch dog and then at the end of the season they would shoot them because it was cheaper than feeding and taking care of them for the next season. 1974.
Marysville kommiefornia

Roland T. Gunner

There is a special place in hell. Beagles no less.

Get Out

Let’s hope the scum get what they deserve in the end. A group of us witnessed a guy physically abusing his deer dogs and the local Game Warden with us cited him for animal abuse and took his dogs away from him. He paid a hefty fine and lost hunting privileges for a few years. He never ran dogs with us again either.

musicman44mag

Right on. I respect and value any animal enough if it is not mean and cruel that I want to see it live and if I grow to weary or too old to take care of it, I want to know that it goes to a good home where someone will take care of it and love it like I would and I will make sure they have the funding to do so.

Roland T. Gunner

I wonder if she is an untrainable wife?

Bob

Shoulda shot the son of a bitch!

musicman44mag

I never liked him because of it and hated the idea. That’s why when they make hunting bear or mountain lions/cougar with dogs illegal, it doesn’t hurt my feelings one bit.

Finnky

We’ve had a couple farriers decline to handle our horse again. Trainer we used also worked as farrier and says he was no problem. Farrier we use is amazing – handles Cal with minimal effort. Simply moves him around a bit if Cal gets fidgety – but Cal behaves far better for Chad (farrier) than he does for anyone else. Good horsemen are amazing and their help is well worth the price. Been learning for a while – but I still suck at it. Right now we were out of town for a month and he hasn’t been ridden. Will… Read more »

musicman44mag

Good luck. Take a carrot and an apple with you and while you talk to him calmly, give him some and pet him on the side of the neck. Then walk him around a bit or lunge him if need be. The horse feeds off of you and your attitude. Remaining calm and stroking him or brushing if the horse likes it does allot for attitude. Another trick is to grab the ears by the head and gently squeeze them and while keeping the tension on them move your hands to the tip of the ear and then gently and… Read more »

musicman44mag

I don’t know what it is called, I think it is called a twitch? You lock it on the horses lips and it is distracted by it being there and it allows you do do other things with the horse. The vets always had them and used them when cleaning sheathes etc.

Wild Bill

Yeah, her political career is over, as it should be.

musicman44mag

I don’t think so, people forget and some like me understand. I would still rather have her than desanctimonious.

Oldman

MM, I believe she is done as far as politics go. She might have trouble getting re-elected as Governor. Her mistake? She was trying to make a point about how tough she is and it backfired because that wasn’t the way to do it. There are certain things one should not tell the public about past life experiences. Or, she could have lied and said the dog was bit by a rabid coyote and had to be put down. She didn’t. Besides, IMO, Vivek looks to me to be the odds on favorite as he is the main supporter of… Read more »

musicman44mag

Trump already said that he wants Vivek in charge of technology. I never heard of Stefanik so I don’t know anything about her and I never heard Trump mention her name but I haven’t heard everything he has said.

Who knows, only time will tell. I just hope no matter what it wont be RFK at the last minute.

Bob

I love my governor.

musicman44mag

Don’t know what state you are in but if it is SD, I do too. How many other governors do you know that welds, does electrical, plumbing, secretarial, LOL. No quarantine, no shot requirement, no vax card requirement, first to say no boys in women’s sports, one of the first to say no sales of land to China, no abortion. What’s not to love. She has it together than most of the men and is a leader compared to the ones that claim they did it first when running for president and know they were actually second but some men… Read more »

musicman44mag

Well, there is nothing to argue and I still want her.

Question, if we had to have a woman for president, would you want a roll over pussy like obidum or a hard bitch that won’t take any shit that has her head screwed on straight.

Trump/Noem 2024

Bob

I sincerely hope you don’t belong or donate to the ASPCA!!!

musicman44mag

ASPCA is a joke. They want 300 and more for a POS dog that has been abused and is afraid of everything. Puppy’s go for 500 for a mutt and 750 and more for a recognized breed with no papers. I bought mine from a breeder and she is a blast. Loves to steal toilet paper rolls and towels off the hangars but she is loving and smart as a whip. At 2.5 months no potty on the floor, sit, lay, stay, speak and now she barks at the door or someone coming close to the car. She chews on… Read more »

Roverray

The ATF will be handling all firearm exports from here on out. No paperwork required.

Finnky

No badge-cams allowed either.

They had weapons so it was self defense. Nothing to see here.

Softy

Bidum already has gone above and beyond any other administration on being “salesman of the year “ for firearms and ammunition and just about the rest of the inventory of our US Military and given it to Ukraine. Usually, the term “salesman “ means that you actually sell something. Bidum keeps donating billions upon billions of cash and weapons and ammunition to the point where our reserves are getting mighty low. If we were to go to war with any of the 6-7 countries that want to end us, I truly believe this is where our “ well regulated militias… Read more »

Mystic Wolf

The byden administration is the most anti-American administration this country has ever had in its history, you can bet the next thing byden will do is arm all those that ars coming across the border by the thousands each day. The byden people are in FACT globalist at their very core they hate everything this country is and has been, this is why byden is doing everything he can to destroy what this nation is and he will keep doing so until there is nothing left of it. Any one or any person that thinks that byden is such a… Read more »

Bob

I really hope you’re wrong although I know you’re right. Assuming you’re right, I’m going to have to buy more ammo.

Get Out

Noam’s credibility took another hit when she wrote in her book, she stared down dictator Kim Jong Un, oops apparently, she never met with him, ever.