(ConservativeSense.com) – On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw reintroduced a bipartisan bill to Congress that would allow firearms manufacturers to appeal the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) letter rulings which may harm their business or violate the Second Amendment.
The proposal by Crenshaw comes in response to the ATF’s latest rule which created stricter regulations on stabilizing braces for pistols, classifying any gun with that accessory to be a short-barreled rifle and therefore requiring a federal license to own it. The ATF Accountability Act proposed by Crenshaw will also have a better chance of passing now that the GOP has the majority in the House.
Crenshaw accuses the ATF of trampling on the Second Amendment rights of citizens who follow the law, citing the banning of pistol braces as a recent example of this, calling it a “shameless slap in the face to disabled veterans.” He goes on to explain to Fox News Digital that his bill “will establish an appeals process that brings ATF in line with most other federal regulatory bodies,” allowing small business owners an opportunity to fight back against what he describes as “unconstitutional attacks” without having to break the bank battling the government in court.
According to Crenshaw, “anti-gun government bureaucrats” are “overzealous” and “shouldn’t get the final say on blocking Americans from exercising their fundamental rights.”
There have never been formal processes to appeal the classification rules handed down by the Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) of the ATF, and this is what Crenshaw aims to change with his bill, which will outline procedures for dealers, manufacturers, and importers of firearms to appeal the FATD rules.
The bill would also require that any inquiries by sellers, makers, and importers be responded to by the attorney general within a period of 90 days providing an opportunity for the appeals to be heard by a judge, who will then have 90 days to make a decision.
Just a week ago, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who also spoke out against the new rules about stabilizers, introduced the “Abolish the ATF Act” calling for the dissolution of the bureau entirely.
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