First appeared on FOX: Texas Republicans are blasting President Biden as an enemy of Americans’ gun rights in a resolution they will introduce in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday.
Rep. Roger Williams, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, said the resolution emphasizes support for the Second Amendment’s “guarantee that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” and opposes “efforts by the Biden Administration to use every opportunity to undermine that guarantee.”
The resolution targets the Biden administration’s recent Second Amendment actions, with the “express goal” of “restricting, burdening, and impairing the ability of law-abiding citizens to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.”
This resolution: Interim Final Rule The Department of Commerce (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued the IFR to amend DOC’s licensing policies regarding the export of firearms, ammunition, and related parts under the Bureau’s jurisdiction.
Biden administration to tighten gun export controls, officials say
“The Biden administration is taking extreme measures to treat law-abiding gun owners as criminals,” Rep. Roger Williams told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)
The restrictions, which went into effect Thursday, were highlighted in Williams’ resolution, which states that BIS is “restricting fundamental Second Amendment rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights by implementing policies that restrict commercial firearms exports without providing sufficient reason why such prohibitions are necessary.”
The Commerce Department said in an April press release that the changes were intended to “reduce the risk that lawfully exported firearms and related items will be diverted or misused for regional destabilization, narcotics trafficking, human rights abuses, political violence, or other activities that harm U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.”
The Commerce Department suspended nearly all firearms exports in October, citing the need to assess “the risk that firearms could be diverted to organizations or activities that promote regional destabilization, human rights abuses, or criminal activity.”
The suspension will be lifted on Thursday when the new rules take effect. In addition to the new rules, the Commerce Department said, “effective July 1, BIS will revoke all currently active licenses authorizing the export of firearms to non-government end users in destinations designated by the Department of State.”
Biden administration criticized by Republicans for making rules to ‘intentionally hurt’ gun industry
Cited in the resolution The Second Amendment “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
“Our Founding Fathers envisioned a nation where all citizens have the right to defend themselves, their property and their families. The Biden Administration has taken extreme measures to ignore Congress and abuse the rulemaking process using federal agencies like the Department of Justice and the ATF to criminalize law-abiding gun owners,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “I reaffirm my strong support for the Second Amendment and am proud to condemn Biden’s unconstitutional attacks on law-abiding gun owners and purchasers.”
The resolution also condemns President Biden for signing “several executive orders that direct federal agencies to act far beyond their constitutional and statutory authority and significantly expand restrictions on the lawful purchase and possession of firearms by private citizens.”
The resolution comes as the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security moves to revise the department’s licensing policy for the export of firearms, ammunition and related parts under its jurisdiction. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Williams’ resolution also highlights “a number of regulations issued in recent years by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives intended to restrict the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.”
If passed, the House of Representatives would declare that it “reaffirms its support for the Second Amendment and its constitutional guarantee that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” “disapproves of President Biden’s gun control policies and hostility toward the legitimate gun industry,” “disapproves of President Biden’s gun control efforts,” “opposes the Biden Administration’s continued abuse of executive power to restrict the fundamental Second Amendment rights of the American people,” “disapproves of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ recent administrative rules and policy changes to restrict the Second Amendment rights of the American people,” and “disapproves of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s policies of restricting lawful firearms exports and malicious attacks on civilian gun ownership.”
According to Williams’ office, his resolution is supported by several gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR).
“The Biden Administration has repeatedly overstepped its authority and attacked the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The NRA thanks Rep. Roger Williams for passing a resolution affirming the U.S. House of Representatives’ upholding of the Second Amendment,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Randy Kozuk.
Lawrence G. Keene, senior vice president and general counsel of the NSSF, also praised Williams’ resolution, arguing that the Biden administration has “used nearly the full range of government tools to attack” an industry that provides a means for Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
“The United States Constitution’s teachings about certain inalienable rights given to us by our Creator, not our government, are as relevant today as they were when the Second Amendment was ratified in 1791. Our freedoms are worth protecting, and the Second Amendment guarantees that law-abiding citizens will not be denied their natural right to self-defense and the right to keep and bear arms to protect themselves and defend their liberty,” Keene said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
Customers look at guns on display at a gun shop in Los Angeles on December 19, 2012. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins/File Photo)
“The Biden Administration has used nearly the entirety of the government’s tools to attack an industry that provides the means for people to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” Keane added. “The strong and principled stand taken by these lawmakers, led by Rep. Roger Williams, is in keeping with our American tradition of protecting these freedoms from government overreach that flagrantly disregards our rights as citizens.”
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last week, Sen. Tim Scott, R.S.C.The ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he led 22 other Senate Republicans in calling on the Biden administration to repeal what they consider a “deeply erroneous rule and the resulting license revocation.”
Co-sponsors of Williams’ bill include Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Byron Donald (R-FL), Diana Hershberger (R-TN), Richard Hudson (R-NC), Randy Weber (R-TX) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
