US firearms examiners declared ‘essential’ shutdown workers after gun-lobby pressure | US politics

American citizens are once again free to purchase some of the nation’s deadliest firearms and gun accessories, after relentless lobbying from the gun industry and Republican politicians forced the Trump administration to make concessions amid the federal government shutdown.

Starting this week, gun owners will be able to resume purchases of some of the most regulated weapons in the United States, with federal employees responsible for regulating items now reclassified as “essential” returning to work. They include vintage silencers, short-barreled rifles and machine guns produced before 1986.

Sales of those items were halted following the shutdown after federal examiners responsible for regulating purchases were placed on leave. The examiners were from the NFA division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

These weapons have long been recognized as posing a significant risk to public safety, since the passage of the National Firearms Act under which they are regulated in 1934. Commonly referred to as “gangster weapons,” the firearms have proliferated in recent years and are now among the best-sellers in the firearms market.

The temporary blockage of sales of these heavily controlled firearms has sparked a backlash from industry groups and members of Congress. While sales of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns were unaffected by the government shutdown and background checks proceeded normally, lobbyists argued that the barrier to sales of silencers, pre-1986 machine guns and short-barreled rifles was a violation of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

“Your Second Amendment rights are not suspended because of Congress’s failure to pass legislation,” said Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade group.

“Our members have spoken to us about the impact,” he added. “Companies that sell suppressors have been shut down. »

On October 16, the firearms industry trade association NSSF wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi protesting that “a right delayed is a right denied.” He called for the immediate resumption of sales of what he called “safety-enhancing devices already widely accepted and responsibly used across the country.”

A day later, 30 Republican members of Congress pressured Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll. They said blocking gun acquisition undermines “Americans’ ability to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their property.”

The Trump administration gave in to such concerted pressure, allowing gun examiners to return to their offices on Monday. The concession means sales of silencers, short-barreled weapons and older machine guns can resume, even as other essential public services continue to be trapped in closure.

Shelved services include approving new drugs and processing small business loans. Even some federal employees who oversee the U.S. nuclear stockpile remain on leave.

“While the shutdown has crippled the work of federal agencies that actually protect American lives, the Trump administration has deemed processing applications for firearms and accessories that threaten public safety an essential activity,” Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, told the Guardian.

The gun rights organization Gun Owners of America hailed the decision to allow sales of deadly weapons to resume as a “historic victory for gun owners against years of ATF tyranny.”

Other elements of the firearms industry will continue to be affected by the shutdown. Applications for permits and licenses that would allow the international trade of firearms and the classification of new products that firearms and accessory manufacturers wish to market are still not being processed.