Senate Democrats Sound Alarm On Proposed ATF Rule Loosening Firearm Prohibitions For High-Risk Individuals

Senate Democrats Sound Alarm On Proposed ATF Rule Loosening Firearm Prohibitions For High-Risk Individuals

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) led a group of Senate Democrats in sounding the alarm on a proposed federal gun regulation that would revise the definitions of "adjudicated as a mental defective" and "committed to a mental institution," effectively raising the legal threshold to prohibit high-risk individuals' access to firearms.

In a letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director Robert Cekada, the Senators wrote: "With these proposed revisions, ATF is rewriting the regulations that have been used and relied on for decades to help keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who are not allowed to have them for mental health reasons under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4). ATF's stated justification for this change is narrow, citing mainly the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) past practice of reporting certain veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), but ATF's proposed rule is much broader. It is also based on an insufficient process - failing to account for the significant costs implementation of this proposed rule will incur. In addition, ATF admits the potential risks that will come with these revisions include 'potential mass casualty events.' For all of these reasons, ATF should withdraw this rule."

Specifically, the Senators cited the following reasons for ATF to withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety:

• ATF's claims misrepresent the situation, and these purported issues have already been resolved by Congress;
• One particular revision is inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) and the Brady Act;
• ATF fails to consider or contemplate the resource costs that will fall to the states to address ATF's proposed revisions; and
• ATF did not sufficiently consider tailored alternatives for the issues it is purportedly seeking to address.

"To upend longstanding federal gun violence prevention regulations in a manner that contravenes commonsense federal firearms laws like the GCA and the Brady Act based on an inadequate justification and incomplete cost-benefit analysis warrants withdrawal on its own. That, in ATF's own words, the proposed rule could lead to "mass casualty events" is only further evidence that ATF should not engage in this rulemaking. It is unconscionable that ATF, whose mission is to protect the public from violent gun crime, would even begin to consider regulatory changes that could result in such deadly outcomes. For the reasons detailed in this comment, ATF should withdraw this proposed rule," the Senators concluded.

In addition to Durbin and Murphy, the letter is signed by U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

For a PDF of the letter to Director Cekada, click here.

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