Biden’s hypocritical attack on civilian arms exports

OPINION:

Unsurprisingly, President Biden launched another attack on gun owners in his war against the Second Amendment. Instead of focusing on inflation, mortgage rates and border security, the Biden administration is trampling on the Constitution, hurting Americans and their businesses in the process. The Department of Commerce’s decision to halt civilian gun exports isn’t the Biden administration’s first time attacking gun owners, and it won’t be the last.

Just this year, the Biden administration set its sights on gun owners on several occasions. In January, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a rule to reclassify pistol-braced firearms as illegal short-barreled rifles and shotguns. 

This means anyone who does not register his or her pistol could face a 10-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. In August, the ATF proposed a rule to expand the definition of those who qualify as “engaged in the business” of firearm sales, increasing the swathe of law-abiding citizens subject to steep fines and warrantless searches.

Under Mr. Biden, the ATF is revoking more gun dealers’ licenses than any administration since the Bureau started keeping records in 2013. That same month, the Department of Education attempted to strip funding from shooting sports in schools before Congress near unanimously passed my bill to put a stop to it. 

In September, Vice President Kamala Harris created the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. This office is specifically designed to circumvent Congress to ban semi-automatic rifles and so-called high-capacity magazines, and enforce federally mandated red-flag laws.

Now, the administration is targeting gun owners yet again. Last month, the Bureau of Industry and Security paused the issuance of firearms and ammunition export licenses. This decision was made without advance notice and input from industry stakeholders. Not only that, it contained a massive caveat, allowing BIS to retain the authority to do virtually anything else it deems appropriate. It’s ludicrous, and it’s harming law-abiding American businesses.

This decision won’t just harm Americans. Law-abiding citizens in other countries also have a right to and a need for self-defense. 

Hamas’ attacks against Israel should dispel any notion that a federal bureaucrat can justly decide who needs firearms for defense and who does not. Furthermore, blocking American businesses from selling to people in other countries only pushes buyers to look elsewhere. 

American gun and ammunition exports are among the most closely scrutinized and regulated in the world. Removing our products from the international market will give bad actors an effective monopoly on the use of force.

Interestingly, despite the ceaseless attempts to undermine the Second Amendment, even the Biden administration could not justify ending gun exports to Ukraine and Israel. 

It is a self-evident truth that armed citizens are empowered and protected citizens. Mr. Biden’s Israel and Ukraine exception makes clear that he agrees that guns are necessary for self-defense; he just doesn’t think ordinary Americans deserve them. This is blatant hypocrisy.

That’s why I sent a letter to the Department of Commerce asking for answers on the unprecedented and reckless restriction on civilian firearm exports. My letter was joined by 87 other Republicans who demanded that the Biden administration end this ridiculous hypocrisy and continue the issuance of export licenses for firearms, related components, and ammunition.

Our Founding Fathers were clear about protecting the right to keep and bear arms, a right enshrined in the Second Amendment. Every person has a right to self-defense. President Biden’s clear mission is to strip Americans of this right, one step at a time. I’m working to stop him.

• Mark Green is a physician and combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, where he served three tours. He interviewed Saddam Hussein for six hours on the night of his capture. He is chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.