Senator Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Acting Director Gary M. Restaino demanding answers on the agency’s new rules that would unduly burden law-abiding gun owners and dealers. Senator Hawley previously sent a letter to ATF on this matter in June 2021.
Senator Hawley asked, “What steps does ATF intend to take to ensure that any new information that may be retained by FFL dealers under Final Rule 2021R–05F is not subsequently used for the targeting of lawful gun owners by federal authorities or other politically-motivated purposes?”
ATF’s Proposed Rule 2021R–05, which has recently been finalized by ATF, would require gun dealers to maintain gun owner and transaction information forever, a dangerously close step toward an unconstitutional national gun registry. Proposed Rule 2021R–08 would reclassify millions of pistols and AR-15-style firearms as “short-barreled rifles,” subjecting them to the rigid controls of the National Firearms Act and making it a federal felony to possess them without going through a byzantine waiver process.
Read the entire letter here
