The bill, which is being welcomed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, might feel unnecessary, but it's needed very much.

NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, welcomes the introduction S. 1922, the Fighting Irrational Regulatory Enforcement to Avert Retailers’ Misfortune (FIREARM) Act, by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). The “FIREARM” Act would prevent the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from shuttering Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) over minor clerical mistakes and allows them to correct self-reported errors.

Sen. Ernst announced the introduction of the legislation at NSSF-member Davenport Guns & Shooting Club in Davenport, Iowa.

“Senator Joni Ernst’s ‘FIREARM’ Act will ensure that future administrations cannot weaponize the ATF as a political gun control tool for special interests,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “Under the Biden administration, the firearm and ammunition industry witnessed the ATF being weaponized to carry out that administration’s extreme antigun policies. That damaged the cooperative relationships between firearm retailers, who are on the frontline preventing illegal straw purchases of firearms, and the ATF, which enforces laws to safeguard our communities. NSSF is thankful for Senator Ernst’s leadership to provide remedies that repair this necessary public trust in our federal agencies.”

Specifically, the “FIREARM” Act:

• Creates a safe harbor for FFLs to self-report violations, so they can correct any accidental errors;
• Requires the ATF to work collaboratively with FFLs to fix violations and help avoid future violations;
• Addresses the “willfulness” issue by defining it to mean a voluntary, intentional violation of a known legal duty achieved through specific intent or deliberate planning, excludes previous conduct, and creates a rebuttal if the conduct is not willful; and
• Allows for direct judicial review of license revocations to avoid the ATF from serving as both the judge and prosecutor.

Because this would be passed by Congress, a future president can't just decide to go back to how the Biden administration decided to do things. Of course, I hope it's worded correctly in light of the proposal by the Trump administration to merge the ATF with the DEA. If it's not, well, that might make things troubling, but hopefully, that issue has been foreseen.

No one wants actual rogue gun dealers running around, selling guns to just anyone. Well, OK, I'd rather that be the case than what we have now, not because I want armed criminals but because the Form 4473 is nothing but a backdoor gun registration effort and we all know it.

But most folks don't get that. They don't understand the issues, and they don't want actual rogue gun dealers just selling guns to whoever has the money.

Yet that's not who got caught up in this "zero tolerance" thing. Those guns are clever enough to not get caught nearly so easily.

Instead, it was law-abiding FFL holders who abbreviated where they shouldn't or maybe misunderstood exactly when the three-day waiting period on a delayed NICS check actually started.

These weren't people who were selling machine guns out of the back door to Cub Scouts. They made errors they didn't know were errors, and they had their livelihoods stripped from them.

Ernst's proposal would make sure that it can never happen again.

The big question is whether Congress will pass it. I think the House just might be willing to do it, but as this isn't something that can be slapped in a budget bill, that means we have to face the filibuster in the Senate. I'm not sure if it can get past that, which will likely kill it.

Then again, I was sure the Hearing Protection Act would face the filibuster in the Senate, and it won't, so I could well be wrong. I hope so, because I'd like to see this become law.