Anti-gunners like to pretend the firearm industry is this massive behemoth, one capable of throwing billions upon billions at Republican lawmakers to buy their votes and their loyalty. They’d have you believe that it has the power to sway people and throw money at problems.
The truth is, most of the gun makers out there aren’t that huge. Smith & Wesson, for example, one of the big dogs in the firearm industry, has about 2,200 employees total. for some perspective, Walmart has over 1,000 times as many.
In other words, a lot of people involved in the notorious gun industry are rather small businesses, and a lot of these companies are feeling the squeeze with the Biden gun export restriction. As a result, a lot of small business Republicans want answers.
The House Small Business Committee chairman and four of his GOP colleagues sent a letter to the Biden Department of Commerce demanding answers on the 90-day pause on issuing gun export licenses.
Chairman Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, led the letter to Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez regarding the department’s pause on issuing gun export licenses.
“The Biden Administration is continuing its relentless attack on small businesses with yet another decision that will only make our entrepreneurs’ lives more difficult,” Williams told Fox News Digital.
…
The lawmakers pointed out that the “FAQ document’s only rationale for this action is that it ‘will enable the Department to more effectively assess and mitigate risk of firearms being diverted to entities, or activities that promote regional instability, violate human rights, or fuel criminal activities.’”
The Republicans also wrote that while “these reasons could potentially be sufficient if fully explained, BIS has not articulated why these things are of concern, to what extent an issue exists, nor does the BIS tie this action, either directly or indirectly, to any ongoing foreign policy issues.”
“Additionally, in this order the BIS did not prohibit licensure for the export of Torture Devices. … If the BIS’s order is based on the fear of human rights abuses, this seems a more obvious place to start,” the lawmakers wrote.
You know, that’s a fair point. If devices useful for torture aren’t restricted, one has to wonder just how concerned with human rights the Biden administration can really be.
The lawmakers argued that the Biden administration’s BIS hadn’t clearly thought through the ramifications these restrictions would put on American small businesses. Yet I’d argue that they did.
This isn’t an unintended consequence, it’s the intended one.
Look, the Biden administration doesn’t like guns. No one in this administration has shown any real support for the right to keep and bear arms beyond pro forma claims otherwise. As such, I can’t help but believe that this particular bit of lunacy is born out of a desire to hurt these small businesses, hopefully driving some out of business.
As such, don’t be surprised if the 90-day time period is extended or, if it’s not, for these companies to find out that a lot of places they’d been exporting goods for some time are now problematic and they can’t sell their products to these places.
Maybe I’m just being a tad paranoid, but it’s not like this administration has given me any reason to trust them on any issue related to guns.
These small business Republicans may be obligated to play the game, but I don’t see any reason I should as well. I’ll admit I could be wrong and this could well be exactly what they say it is, but unless I see evidence that it’s precisely what they said, I’m not buying it.
So, for Christmas, consider asking for a gift from a small business in the gun community. I suspect they could use the help.
