President Joe Biden speaks on efforts to increase gun control at The Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley, Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Monterey Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

From the NSSF . . .

NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, takes exception with President Joe Biden’s Executive Order to increase gun control measures. In the name of “doing something,” the Biden administration is chilling fundamental Constitutional rights and simply rehashing existing law, many of which were previously supported by the firearm industry.

“The Biden administration should demand that soft-on-crime prosecutors and lawmakers use the laws already in existence to lock up criminals that misuse firearms to prey on innocent Americans,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Instead, this administration continues to scapegoat the firearm industry for its unwillingness to address crime. The failure of this administration to seriously address spiraling crime and instead focus its attacks on a Constitutionally-protected industry that works diligently to remain in compliance with laws and regulations and actively cooperates with law enforcement, especially ATF, exposes the lack of urgency Americans demand to curb rampant and out-of-control crime.”

The firearm industry worked with Congress to update the statutory definition of “in the business,” in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was passed last year and signed into law by President Biden. The update defined those Americans “in the business” of selling firearms as those “predominantly earning a profit.”

Further, The White House accused industry members, without evidence, of selling firearms without required FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verifications. This is disingenuous, at best. The firearm industry was the progenitor of the point-of-sale instant background check to ensure firearms are sold only to those the law has determined can be trusted to possess a firearm. The firearm industry has been on the leading edge to improve the quality of FBI’s NICS, including supporting the FIX NICS Act of 2017 that incentivized states and required federal agencies to submit all disqualifying background information to the FBI to ensure prohibited individuals are barred from purchasing firearms. NSSF supports increasing the submission of disqualifying records to FBI NICS but rejects the Biden administration’s demand to move closer to universal background checks, which will not work without a national firearm registry, which is forbidden by federal law.

The firearm industry has also been consistently addressing compliance with federal regulations to report the loss or theft of firearms during shipping. NSSF has repeatedly held compliance seminars with members of the firearm industry and common carriers to be aware of and remain in compliance with reporting requirements when firearms go missing during shipping. NSSF has led this effort to ensure firearms are accounted for during transit from manufacturer to distributor to retailer and finally to retail sale.

NSSF welcomes the Biden administration’s renewed attention to safe storage of firearms in the home. This has been an issue on which the firearm industry has led from the front for over two decades. Every firearm shipped from the factory includes a locking device. Additionally, through NSSF’s leadership with Project ChildSafe, over 40 million firearm safety kits, including locking devices, have been distributed to communities across America through partnerships with over 15,000 law enforcement agencies in all 50 states and five U.S. territories. This campaign has been recognized by the National Safety Council’s Green Cross Awards and the Government Accountability Office for its efficacy in reducing the criminal and negligent misuse of firearms through voluntary safe storage. NSSF welcomes the Biden administration’s support to increase the reach of this firearm-industry financed effort.

In 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden held a White House meeting in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook tragedy. He spoke to then-NSSF CEO Steve Sanetti and referring to NSSF, the president said, “You guys are doing a lot of good things, including the gunlock thing. And this isn’t Joe Biden just blowing smoke. I mean it.”

NSSF has not opposed the use of emergency risk protection orders, or so-called “red flag” laws, so long as those laws include adequate protections for Constitutional Due Process considerations. To date, none of the “red flag” laws in the 19 states and District of Columbia include these Constitutional protections. NSSF urges the Biden administration and Department of Justice (DOJ) to address these Constitutional concerns that would encourage additional states to consider these laws.

President Biden’s demand to close “the dating violence restraining order loophole” has already been addressed and was not opposed by the firearm industry. Definitions of domestic partners were updated in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Congress expanded domestic and dating partners to the list of prohibited individuals to include those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. Those laws were signed by President Biden.

NSSF recognized that the Department of Defense (DoD) instructs all military members on firearm safety during entry-level training. These include the fundamental rules of firearm safety. The firearm industry welcomes the Biden administration’s acknowledgment of proven firearm safety practices that have been the hallmark of the firearm industry for over a century. To the extent that the Biden administration is attempting to politicize the acquisition for the warfighter, the only criteria should be which firearm is the best one to meet the needs of America’s warfighters. Injecting gun control politics into the process is dangerous. Gun control politics should never have a place in DoD’s selection processes.

NSSF does not oppose the reauthorization of the Undetectable Firearms Act, that requires 3.7 ounces of metal be included in a major component part of a firearm. Detection technology has improved to the point where image detectors have been able to identify polymer-framed firearms. Demands to modernize this act deserve strict scrutiny. The Undetectable Firearms Act as it is currently written should be made permanent.

NSSF rejects the Biden administration’s demands to ban modern sporting rifles (MSRs) and standard-capacity magazines. This demand is clearly unconstitutional, as affirmed by the Heller, McDonald and Bruen decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that affirmed the individual right to possess firearms in common use. More than 24.4 million MSRs are in circulation today. That’s more than there are Ford F-150s on the road, the most-popular selling pickup truck. MSRs are semiautomatic firearms, which operate the same way as the most popular handguns and duck hunting shotguns. One cartridge is expended for each pull of the trigger. Likewise, efforts to ban standard-capacity magazines are an attempt to infringe on the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. The courts have affirmed that magazine possession is essential to the ability to exercise Second Amendment rights. NSSF knows from government studies that banning MSRs and restricting magazine capacity will not make our communities safer.

NSSF rejects the Biden administration’s demand to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). This law is the expressed will of Congress that was passed with a wide bipartisan majority and prevents frivolous lawsuits against the firearm industry for the criminal misuse of firearms by remote third parties. This would be akin to suing Ford and Anheuser-Busch for criminal drunk driving incidents. Criminals are responsible for the crimes they commit.

NSSF rejects President Biden’s weaponization of the nonpartisan Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to squelch the First Amendment rights of firearm businesses. The heavy-handed approach is nothing short of an attempt to chill First Amendment-protected commercial free speech about products protected by the Second Amendment. The firearm industry markets firearms only to those who are legally able to possess them. Only those over the age of 18 can legally purchase a firearm at retail after submitting to an FBI NICS verification.

NSSF also rejects the Biden administration’s attempt to weaponize the “zero tolerance” policy of revoking federal firearms licenses for minor clerical errors by compounding that ill-conceived policy to expand it to a “name-and-shame” effort. Firearm retailers are the front line for ensuring firearms are sold only to those legally able to purchase them and “zero-tolerance” risks the cooperative relationship between firearm retailers and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). This weaponization of the ATF would codify the Biden administration’s efforts to transform the ATF from a law enforcement and regulatory agency to one that is a political arm of an antigun administration.

36 COMMENTS

    • Their “We’ve walked hand-in-hand with the Administration’s every move to tyrannize our customers; how dare they treat us like regular citizens” message doesn’t resonate with you?

      • lol this whole screed is a list of reasons I do not support the NSSF. They need to be not cooperating and fighting the government and ATF at every turn. I have no use for collaborators.

        • I understand reprinting articles from antis who have the decency to admit it – in the same “know your enemy” sense that military publications and blogs publish what threat countries / organizations are saying and writing – but I don’t know why TTAG so often gives these collaborators a platform.

    • NSSF is still promoting tyranny (just a softer form of it).

      “Enforcing existing gun laws” violates the Constitution. Shall not be infringed means what it says.

      Enforce the real laws, like those against murder, robbery, assault, kidnapping, rape, and the destruction of property (where real people are actually harmed).

      The NFA, GCA, etc are evil and need to go.

      • Correct, all laws infringing upon RKBA are patently unconstitutional.
        =
        In a constitutional Republic at the common law, public servants are restricted to do only those duties so privileged for public servants to do.
        =
        WHAT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY ALLOWED, IS ABSOLUTLEY DENIED.
        SEE” Federalist 49 by Madison on rights protected by “constitutional limitations”.
        =
        What the biden has done is to place further unconstitutional restrictions upon the lawful based upon the actions of the criminal.
        With democrats, they always treat the symptoms without solving the problem.

  1. Biden’s blowing smoke, Man. No kidding. What he’s basically doing is directing the ATF into performing more scope creep, and they (and he) will almost certainly get slapped back for it eventually.

    • Is he? Seriously? How many times has the executive branch and the ATF been “slapped back” in recent memory? They impose rules that are stupid, to be sure, but they are still rules that people follow (must follow). When was the last time that you bought a gun from an FFL without filling out a 4473? (NTM, why is an FFL a thing anyway?) How many times have you bought a machine gun lately? Own a silencer? Pay any tax for that? The ATF and, by implication, the executive branch, without congressional authorization in any meaningful form, has been materially infringing your RTKBA for just a bit under a century now and they have not been “slapped back” in any meaningful way until, maybe, a year or so ago with Bruen but, that is not yet fully fleshed out and has stopped short of the comprehensive, and appropriate, response of, “No”. There have been, to be sure, relaxations of a sort at the state level on gun rights infringement in the last few decades but, at the federal level, the principle of “shall not be infringed” has been, essentially, ignored.

      The very fact that there is a a bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (et al), by its very existence, indicates the disdain the Federal Government has for you (TBF, a bureau of AT and, uh, other stuff, but definitely not firearms, might pass constitutional muster but, the “F” puts them in what should be immediately considered to be unconstitutional territory.)

      People have been appropriately encouraged by some of the “restoration” of gun rights that have happened over the past 30 years or so in many states but, in and of itself, that is part of the problem because people were not adequately outraged by the infringements of the previous three or four decades in the first place. The very idea that “things are getting better” is, in itself, the problem because it implies that the fact that things “got worse” was ever acceptable at any level.

      (A rant, I know, not directed at you personally, just sh*t I needed to get off my chest.)

  2. A Tyrant will always use Tyranny to destroy Freedom as long as they are allowed to Rule. The limits of Tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

  3. “Biden Scapegoats Gun Makers, Weaponizes Government Against Gun Owners Rather Than Enforcing Laws Already on the Books”

    In other words, it’s a Tuesday in the Biden Era. Thursdays are still dedicated to Dr@g @ueen Story Time.

  4. The Lame Brandon* presidency has to attract attention, however it can.

    No, I didn’t mean lame duck. You can eat a lame duck, no one wants to see Brandon on the menu.

  5. basically:

    weaponizing the government against the people is a key step towards implementing a tyranny. (like the British did in colonial America)

    attacking the right to free speech (1st amendment) to control or supress speech, attacking the peoples right of protection from unlawful search and seizure (4th amendment- Biden already tried this in Caniglia vs Strom at SCOTUS, he’s still working on it) to make it moot, attacking the natural right to defense and trying to render the people defenseless (2nd amendment)… is another key step towards implementing a tyranny. (just like the British did in colonial America)

    creating a polarized society such that the ‘enemy’ is another sector of law abiding citizens (gun owners in this case), to create chaos and polarization with deception while refusing to address the lawlessness to the point where the people will welcome any government ‘help’, is the third and final stage towards implementing a tryanny. (like the British did in colonial America)

    tried and true formula, used by every tyranny in history to achieve a conquered and controlled people if they wanted to do it without firing a shot.

    we are entering stage 3, its at this point in colonial America where we went to war to kick the British tyranny out.

    • Well stated, but I would add that this is not a collection of colonies acting against an outside entity that can be rejected and removed. This is the People of a Nation taking a stand against its own Government that has deliberately violated the boundaries set upon it by the People, in the attempt to subjugate its People.

      The States at their institutional (gubernatorial/legislative) level are now posturing themselves against each other and widening the rift further. If the States act merely by themselves, the result would likely be a degree of balkanization. But with a hungry and encroaching Federal Government seeking total control over the lives and property of its citizens, States are beginning to align themselves into the two camps of Patriots (loyal to the original Republic) and Marxists (dedicated to destroying the Republic).

      I fear that we’ll soon see a phase in which determined individuals and groups on both sides will act to vio!ently disrupt commerce, movement of vital goods (food/medicines), and/or power (electric/gas/fuel) to cripple metros and regions. This will bring wild swings of uncertainty and reactive government overreach that will dwarf anything we saw with COVID.

      And this may be the game plan, TBH. It would act as a penultimate distraction from TPTB over the masses. Remember…what’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth? About six months.

    • George III didn’t have the means at his disposal to even imagine the extent to which today’s gov is into every aspect of our lives.

  6. NSSF?

    🤔
    You mean the organization that gives A ratings to Senate reps who support red flag laws?

    STFU NSSF! You’re an org of FUDDS!

  7. Because of the biden economy you are in the business of selling guns when you have to sell a gun to buy a loaf of bread.

    Jim Crow Gun Control joe is so low he makes the self serving lord marshal b.h. obama who was an understudy of the lily white communist terrorist bill ayers who advised his spoiled brat doped up followers to killtheirparents look a point better.

  8. Humans should quit demonizing Our Great President Joseph Robinett Biden.
    I pledge allegiance to my ???
    For all it stands for ???

  9. I want to literally smack the crap out of every asshole that voted this clown into office. Stupid bastards.

  10. lol “the failure of this administration to address crime”

    Soft on crime and riots are literally what won you idiots the election. You turned a group of people who knew the system was corrupt so they took it to the place that mattered and turned them into terrorists – as we always said you would… but those ACTUAL terrorists that did nothing but riot and loot for the entire year and a half that led up to that event – were slapped on the wrist and given endorsements for their racist, marxist utopian disaster of ideas. You labelled a group of people that supported “tough on crime” and freedom as terrorist and let the actual terrorist sleep safely in their beds.

    Wake the fuck up.

  11. Surprisingly, some otherwise respectable people continue to refer to the single non-functioning noodle in the White House with undeserved respect and present this noodle as if it mattered. After two brain aneurisms, drugs and CNN, all wrapped in billions of bribes and loot, that suit has nothing in it. Of course, there are powerful enemies of America that stand behind the suit and control everything, but they certainly do not deserve to be called with a capital P in front of the name.

  12. Why can’t he just use his F15s? sarcasm

    Biden seeks war with Russia, China and armed citizens.

  13. It’s a terribly stupid plan, like most anti-2A laws being passed now. If he makes rules, like making NICS more onerous, he’ll trigger a post-Bruen lawsuit that will take out all of NICS. Right now, NICS isn’t in anybody’s sights. Similarly, tightening magazine and “assault weapons” laws will nuke any current restrictions they have, and concealed carry “reform” will wind up with lawsuits that explicitly make it more free

    • “Some think it is just enforcing current laws:

      some ‘think’ that because its true.

      Every thing in it has already been law or policy or rule or regulation or program or action or procedure for many years and under different administrations democrat and republican.

      Even MSM points this out indirectly (to purposely avoid saying it clearly). For example, buried in the AP article > https://apnews.com/article/biden-guns-mass-shooting-monterey-park-uvalde-489c236fd6ed12ab5d74a67ce5ecd501

      “Tuesday’s action does not change U.S. government policy. Rather, it directs federal agencies to ensure compliance with existing laws and procedures….”

      All the democrats have been doing, since they can not get an outright ban on what they keep falsely calling ‘assault weapons’ because its unconstitutional, all they have been doing in their rhetoric and attempts is restating or re-interpreting existing law or policy or rule or regulation or program or action or procedure to fit as close as possible to their goals, throwing in deception and emotion and fear mongering …. and then weaponizing federal government against American citizens by use of executive orders to re-enforce their deception and emotion and fear mongering to specifically and intentionally bypass congress (the legislative law making body of the land) which is also known by another term called ‘rule by decree’ which is a key feature of dictatorships.

  14. “…to ensure firearms are sold only to those the law has determined can be trusted to possess a firearm….”

    The law has determined? Select your words more carefully, Mr.Wordsmith. Laws don’t determine; people do. And I don’t trust, largely, the people doing the determining or hired to write and enforce those laws.

    Can you be trusted to have and exercise your rights? Well, let’s just see about that…

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