Warren, Castro, Torres, Goldman Call on Commerce Department to Address Troubling Increase of Assault Weapons Exports Approvals

Press Release

"In March 2020, the Trump administration transferred oversight of [assault weapons exports] from the State Department to Commerce, after which the value of assault weapon export license approvals immediately shot up by roughly 30 percent, profiting gun manufacturers while putting civilians at risk around the world. This problem may be getting worse -- yet your Department has not published updated annual data -- which will soon be a full year late -- or responded to a congressional inquiry. Meanwhile, new reporting indicates that the Department continues to serve as a "booster and concierge' to the firearm industry -- promoting exports of deadly weapons that find their way into the hands of terrorists and human rights abusers to be used in brutal killings across the globe."

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"Assault weapons are clearly being exported with Commerce's approval and then used to murder civilians abroad, and Commerce owes the public a full accounting of its role. However, you have not responded to a September 2022 congressional letter that sought information about the increased license approvals. You have also delayed for nearly a full year Commerce's annual publication of updated export and license approval data. Commerce posted its last export and license approval data, covering the period from March 2020 to June 2021, two to four months after the end of the relevant period (between August 4 and October 12, 2021). Yet the Department has still not posted its data for the period from June 2021 to June 2022, over a year after the close of the data reporting period."

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