Thirty Republican Senators have signed a letter urging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to rescind regulatory gun controls implemented during the Biden administration.
The Senators posited President Donald Trump’s February 7 executive order as the impetus for the letter. Trump used the order “to assess any ongoing infringements” of the right to keep and bear arms.
The letter from the senators, revealed Thursday, says in part:
Under former President Joe Biden, ATF adopted numerous policies and rules that infringed upon Americans’ Second Amendment protections. President Trump’s Executive Order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and develop a plan of action regarding President Biden’s unlawful firearms regulations. We ask that you work with the Attorney General to quickly identify and rescind these policies.
It continues, “In particular, we call your attention to the following anti-Second Amendment regulations and policies, which must be immediately rescinded.”
The letter then lists the “engaged in the business rule,” by which the ATF sought to expand background checks, the “pistol brace rule,” by which the ATF sought to ban the use of stabilizer braces with AR-pistols, and the so-called “ghost gun” rule, whereby the ATF sought to force background checks for gun parts kits.
The Senators also called for the ATF’s “zero tolerance” policy to be halted, a policy which has been used to shut down numerous gun stores over clerical errors on paperwork.
Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, praised the Senators’ letter, saying, “The rules specifically identified by the senators were designed to punish the firearm industry and usher in gun control outside of the legislative process. NSSF has protested these rules ever since they were announced and is heartened that the Trump administration and the Senate are acting quickly to protect Second Amendment rights and the lawful firearm industry.”
