WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) today introduced the Sporting Firearms Access Act to stop the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from arbitrarily blocking imports of firearms and ammunition.
The Sporting Firearms Access Act clarifies the definition of “sporting purposes” used by the ATF to regulate import of firearms into the U.S. The new definition would recognize firearms and ammunitions used for activities such as hunting, target shooting, and competitions. Under the Gun Control Act of 1968, firearms and ammunition can only be imported if the ATF recognizes it as being suitable for “sporting purposes.” Ambiguity in the law has allowed the ATF to arbitrarily deny imports of firearms by U.S. customers and businesses.
“The ATF will stop at nothing to put a chokehold on law-abiding gun owners’ Second Amendment rights. Barring the import of firearms for legal sporting activities is bureaucratic red tape at its finest,” said Risch. “My Sporting Firearms Access Actsets the ATF’s definition of sporting purposes straight to ensure Idaho’s hunters, skeet shooters, and sportsmen are not denied the import of firearms or ammunition to enjoy these pastimes.”
Risch is joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) in introducing the Sporting Firearms Access Act.
The Sporting Firearms Access Act would prohibit the ATF from denying items that are substantially similar to those in circulation in the U.S. and require the agency to work with the firearms industry to determine what items are suitable for sporting purposes. The bill also provides an appeals process for wrongful determinations and a means for judicial review.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation support this legislation.
“The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) thanks Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Senator Risch for introducing the Sporting Firearms Access Act. Many of the preferred firearms used by sportsmen and women across the country are imported from other countries for use in hunting and recreational shooting, and this legislation provides needed clarifications that firearms for these activities are lawful importations,” said CSF President and CEO Jeff Crane.
“The Sporting Firearms Access Act will bring clarity to the 1968 Gun Control Act and make clear that the ATF sporting-purposes test does not prohibit from importation firearms and ammunition products that can be used for hunting, recreational target shooting and competitive shooting competitions or where similar products are available from U.S. manufacturers for these same purposes,”said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Senator Risch’s legislation will ensure that bureaucratic interpretations of the law cannot arbitrarily deny Americans of the ability to legally obtain imported firearms and ammunition for what are clearly sporting purposes. We commend Senator Risch for his leadership and urge passage of this bill.”
