Democrats Slam Biden for ‘Lackluster Oversight’ of Commercial Gun Exports
They urge tighter controls of assault weapons shipments, say lack of transparency may be ‘masking’ a worsening record.
No company has profited more from the American export push than Sig Sauer Inc., the US-based spinoff of the European gunmaker.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
Citing the US Commerce Department’s “lackluster oversight” of the country’s international firearms trade, several congressional Democrats are calling on Secretary Gina Raimondo to tighten controls on the commercial export of US-made guns and to release long-delayed trade data detailing those shipments.
A 2020 rule change transferred oversight of export licenses for many types of firearms from the State Department to Commerce — a switch that gun industry lobbyists correctly predicted would boost overseas sales. In the first 16 months after the change, global export-license approvals rose 30 percent over historical averages, according to congressional estimates. The Democratic lawmakers noted that President Biden vowed during his presidential campaign to reverse the Trump-era rule. But he has not.