Bill Introduced to Ban Federal Contracts with Gun Dealers Linked to Violent Crime

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Consultant Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08) have launched new laws aimed toward stopping the federal authorities from contracting with firearms sellers who’re recognized as having a historical past of promoting weapons that flip up as being utilized in violent crimes. The invoice, referred to as the Clear Fingers Firearm Procurement Act, seeks to deal with gun violence by limiting authorities contracts to accountable firearm sellers.

The proposed laws builds on current federal legislation, which requires federally licensed firearms sellers (FFLs) to report if they’ve offered 25 or extra weapons in a single yr which are subsequently traced to violent crimes inside the previous three years. Below the brand new legislation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) would determine sellers with a sample of gun gross sales tied to prison exercise and render them ineligible for federal contracts.

“Far too usually, profitable federal contracts are inexplicably awarded to firearm sellers who’ve been linked to harmful crime,” Senator Padilla stated. “Our common sense laws goals to fight mindless, preventable gun violence by making certain that gun sellers observe accountable enterprise practices to maintain weapons from falling into the fallacious fingers.”

Consultant Raskin echoed these considerations, stating, “With gun violence persevering with to ravage America’s social contract and terrorize our communities, it’s incumbent on Congress to behave swiftly to cross common sense gun security coverage like our Clear Fingers Firearm Procurement Act.”

Notice: They each use the usual Democrat buzzword for use with each utterance of “gun laws” and that’s to precede it with the adjective “frequent sense,” although they’re extra usually mindless in that they’ll do little to nothing to forestall crime.

The invoice can be supported by the standard anti-gun organizations such because the Brady Heart to Forestall Gun Violence. Mark Collins, the group’s Director of Federal Coverage, emphasised the necessity to direct taxpayer cash to accountable gun sellers, stating, “The Clear Fingers Firearm Procurement Act will make sure that the small portion of sellers that offer crime weapons wouldn’t have the privilege of doing enterprise with the federal authorities.”

Along with Padilla and Raskin, the invoice is co-sponsored the standard who’s who of Democratic lawmakers, together with Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ailing.), Dick Durbin (D-Ailing.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The ATF’s Demand 2 Program, established greater than twenty years in the past, at the moment works to hint firearms utilized in crimes by establishing their chain of custody from the producer to the primary retail buy…a de facto gun registry if you’ll although federal legislation doesn’t allow a registry of gun house owners to be stored. Go determine! The brand new laws would leverage this tracing system to focus on sellers contributing disproportionately to gun trafficking and violence.

Senator Padilla has been a vocal advocate for proscribing gun freedoms and possession, together with voting in favor of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, which aimed to strengthen background checks and crimson flag legal guidelines.