NSSF Response To Obama’s Executive Actions

Like the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Foundation issued a response to President Obama’s Executive Actions on gun control. Their response is a bit more detailed than the NRA response and they note that they will be issuing more responses as the days go by. They bring up a good point about making the shipper – not the recipient dealer – responsible for reporting guns lost or stolen in transit.

NSSF Statement: “Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence and make Our Communities Safer”

We
all share the goal of reducing the intentional misuse of guns and
enhancing the safety of our communities. As the trade association for
the firearms and ammunition industry, the National Shooting Sports
Foundation (NSSF) will carefully review all aspects of the executive
actions that President Obama announced today. Much remains to be spelled
out. In the interim we have some initial reactions:

• We support further resources being allocated to staffing and
  increasing operational hours for the FBI’s National Instant Criminal
  Background Check System (NICS) to make the system more efficient and
  responsive.
• We represent Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs). The criteria
  for what will constitute being “engaged in the business” going forward
  needs considerable clarification and raises questions about
  enforceability.
• The number of firearms lost or stolen while in transit to or
  from FFLs is less than 0.15 percent of the number manufactured and
  imported in a given year. In these rare occurrences, FFLs already
  actively participate in ATF’s long-standing voluntary reporting program
  and FFLs and common carriers work closely with ATF to investigate them.
  Proposals to make a shipping FFL responsible for tracking and reporting
  firearms no longer in their inventories, after the legal title has been
  transferred to the purchaser, are misdirected, as the receiving FFL is
  in the best position to know if it receives its shipment.
• We have long called for the effective enforcement of the
  numerous laws already on the books regarding the criminal misuse of
  firearms and would encourage the administration to carry through on this
  directive.
• NSSF has been working actively since early 2013 through our
  FixNICS initiative to encourage states to report all appropriate
  adjudicated mental health records to NICS and has succeeded in getting
  legislation passed in more than a dozen states. We welcome the
  administration’s attention to this issue.
• With regard to the development of “smart-gun” technology, the
  industry has never opposed its development. How additional government
  research into this technology would advance it is unclear. Law
  enforcement agencies and consumers themselves will have to make the
  determination whether acquisition of firearms with this technology
  “would be consistent with operational needs,” as the White House itself
  states. We would continue to oppose mandates for this technology,
  particularly since there are well proven existing methods to secure
  firearms, and firearms accidents are at historic low levels.

NSSF
will have additional responses in the days, weeks and months ahead,
especially as federal departments and agencies begin the work of
carrying out the executive orders.