July 17, 2024

Warren, Castro Urge Commerce to Strengthen New Rule on Assault Weapons Exports

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), wrote to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging the Commerce Department (Commerce) to strengthen its new rule on firearms license requirements – and prevent U.S. weapons exports from contributing to violence and brutal killings across the globe.

“We applaud and appreciate the recent steps taken to amend the Department’s licensing policy for exports of firearms, which recognized the serious and devastating consequences of U.S. firearms exports to other countries,” wrote the lawmakers. “While these changes represent a promising step, we are concerned that the changes fail to include key reporting requirements and do not go far enough to prevent assault weapons from ending up in the hands of dangerous actors around the world.”

This past January, the lawmakers wrote to Commerce urging the Department to incorporate 11 recommendations into its review of its assault weapons export policy. On April 26, 2024, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released an interim final rule (IFR), which strengthened Commerce’s exports licensing requirements and regulations by fully incorporating three of those recommendations, but the lawmakers point out that there are still critical weaknesses to the rule.

“(T)he rule falls short in three key ways: the rule lacks adequate oversight of the transfer of weapons to governmental end-users, it fails to regulate or ban the commercial resale of assault weapons outside the United States, and it does not commit to releasing firearms licensing approval data—which Commerce has delayed releasing in the past and which is one of the key ways Commerce can be held accountable,” wrote the lawmakers.

If the rule is not strengthened, the members warn that U.S. exported weapons could continue being used in killings abroad. Over the past few years, reports have increasingly shown American-made firearms being used in mass shootings in Thailand, gang violence in El Salvador, and violence against Palestinians in Gaza.

“Assault weapons are deadly, military-style weapons intended for “quick, efficient killing” that should not be available to the public at home or overseas,” wrote the lawmakers. “Yet, as more and more firearms have left American shores, reports abound of U.S.-manufactured weapons being used in horrific killings across the globe.”

Additionally, the lawmakers point out that the surge in weapons exports is a result of a Trump-era decision to transfer authority over firearm exports from the State Department to Commerce, after which the dollar value of firearm export license approvals shot up by 30 percent, profiting gun manufacturers while putting civilians at risk around the world. By June 30, 2023, Commerce had approved nearly 25,000 firearms export licenses (for a 93.6% approval rate) with a total value of $34.7 billion— representing a more than $1 billion increase in the annual value of license approvals compared to the time period when the State Department controlled these approvals. 

“National security must come before commerce,” wrote the lawmakers. “The most recent BIS rule, despite making some progress, indicates that firearms exports still will not face sufficient scrutiny in the Department of Commerce’s hands. We continue to support returning all firearms export controls to the State Department,  and in the interim, urge the Commerce Department to incorporate these recommendations into its IFR so that unnecessary export promotion of weapons is not used in brutal killings abroad.”

Senator Warren has led efforts to implement gun violence prevention reforms and hold agencies accountable for their handling of firearms sales: 

  • On May 15, 2024, Senator Warren and Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-Texas.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) sent a letter to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai writing in support of USTR’s decision to remove the designation of import license requirements for explosives, firearms, and ammunition as trade barriers in the annual National Trade Estimate (NTE) report, while also criticizing the Department of Commerce’s inadequate steps to address assault weapons exports. 
  • On January 24, 2024, Senators Warren and Durbin (D-Ill.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representatives Castro and Norma Torres (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, calling on the Department of Commerce to incorporate a set of recommendations from the lawmakers to strengthen export controls and end-use checks for firearm exports to crack down on the unnecessary export of lethal weapons used in brutal killings abroad. 
  • In December 2023, Senator Warren and Representative Dean led lawmakers in a letter to American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, requesting that they explain why their companies have paused the implementation of a new Merchant Category Code (MCC) for gun and ammunition retailers that could help flag suspicious firearm purchases and prevent gun violence, gun trafficking, and domestic terrorism.
  • In December 2023, Senator Warren and Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) reintroduced the Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act, a comprehensive bill that would implement bold and robust measures including creating a federal gun licensing system, strengthening background checks, banning military-style assault weapons and other lethal accessories, holding the gun industry accountable for wrongdoing, and investing in research and community-based gun violence prevention.
  • In November 2023, Senator Warren and Representative Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) sent a letter to six major financial institutions calling on them to provide critical information on their efforts to end their financial investments in the gun industry. 
  • In March 2023, Senators Warren and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), urging the departments to issue guidance to financial institutions for the full implementation of the MCC that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved in 2022 for gun and ammunition stores. 
  • In September 2022, Senators Warren and Murphy (D-Conn.) and Representatives Castro and Torres sent a letter to Secretary Raimondo, calling out Commerce for its increased approvals of export licenses for assault weapons and high-capacity magazine exports, and for putting the gun industry profits before national security and human lives. The lawmakers called on Commerce to revise its approach to assault weapons exports and to answer questions about its export license approvals. 
  • In September 2022, Senator Warren and Representative Dean sent letters to the CEOs of MasterCard, American Express, and Visa urging them to support the creation of a new MCC for gun and ammunition retailers and to request information about their reported opposition to Amalgamated Bank’s application for such a code.

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