{"id":147031,"date":"2021-06-22T13:57:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T17:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=147031"},"modified":"2021-06-22T13:57:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T07:29:47","slug":"atf-rule-is-a-significant-step-toward-a-national-gun-registry-say-gop-senators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/atf-rule-is-a-significant-step-toward-a-national-gun-registry-say-gop-senators\/","title":{"rendered":"ATF Rule is \u2018A Significant Step Toward a National Gun Registry,\u2019 Say GOP Senators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"ATF
(Photo: ATF Facebook<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A handful of Senate Republicans are speaking out against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) quest to reinterpret the nation\u2019s gun laws, suggesting that it could set the table for a federal gun registry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter published on Monday, Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.), Tom Tillis (N.C.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) warned that language in Proposed Rule 2021R-05<\/a>, the one seeking to redefine firearm frames and receivers, would \u201ctake a significant step toward a national gun registry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because it requires \u201cFFL [federal firearms license] dealers to maintain personal gun owner information and records of transactions involving firearms, including their makes, models, and serial numbers\u2014forever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under current federal law, FFLs only need to keep records of gun sales, form 4473s, for 20 years<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senators also raised concern about Proposed Rule 2021R-08<\/a>, which seeks to regulate stabilizing braces, and firearms that accept them, as NFA items.  Owners would be forced to register them with the government, submit fingerprints and pay a $200 tax.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failure to do so could result in criminal prosecution.  Possessing an unregistered NFA firearm <\/a>or a \u201ccontraband firearm\u201d is a felony offense that carries with it a fine of up to $250,000, a prison sentence not exceeding 10 years, and the permanent loss of 2A rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis proposed rule would reverse years of interpretive guidance and recategorize millions of pistols and AR-15-style firearms as \u2018short-barreled rifles,\u2019 placing them under the strict regulatory scheme of the National Firearms Act and making it a federal felony to otherwise possess them,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cIndeed, the Proposed Rule states that it \u2018may affect upwards of 1.4 million individuals.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE ALSO: McCloskeys Plead Guilty to Misdemeanors, Give Up Guns, Buy New AR-15<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The senators end by blasting the ATF for acting as a legislative body as opposed to a regulatory agency.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese measures are concerning enough on their face. But more alarming is ATF\u2019s apparent willingness to unilaterally make important firearms policy determinations wholly apart from Congress,\u201d they write.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmericans\u2019 rights to keep and bear firearms are safeguarded by the Second Amendment, and the responsibility for implementing those constitutional protections rests with elected lawmakers\u2014not unelected federal bureaucrats,\u201d they continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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They end the letter by posing these five questions to the agency, to be answered by June 25, 2021 (This Friday):\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n