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Democrats have branded the Trump administration’s decision to remove export restrictions on American-made firearms “a gift to violent cartels and drug traffickers.” A group led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticizing the scrapping of a Joe Biden-era rule intended to frustrate the black market in illegal small arms sales. “Eliminating firearm export rules is a gift to violent cartels and drug traffickers responsible for the deaths of Americans and innocent civilians around the world,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, first reported by The Hill. “By rescinding the rule, Commerce is empowering the very cartels and criminal organizations that this administration has sought to counter.” Warren and Castro’s letter, signed by 14 other senators from their party and dozens of representatives, included a string of questions they are seeking answers to regarding the decision-making process, giving Lutnick and Rubio until November 4 to respond. A coalition of over 80 NGOs have meanwhile issued a statement of their own agreeing with the Democrats and calling the administration’s actions “reckless and irresponsible.” “Without sufficient controls, U.S.-sourced guns can end up in the hands of abusive governments and transnational criminal organizations where they may stoke political violence, empower narcotics trafficking, foment regional instability, and spur forced migration as people seek refuge outside their own country,” their statement read. The law rescinded on September 30 was introduced on April 30 2024 after the Government Accountability Office found that 73 percent of firearms recovered in crimes in the Caribbean between 2018 and 2022 were sourced from the U.S., prompting the Biden administration to try to stem the flow of American firearms into the hands of foreign criminals. “Governments in the Caribbean region expressed concern that individuals are using license exceptions to bring firearms, particularly semi-automatic handguns, to their countries, and that those firearms are being diverted to violent criminals,” the rule stated. “These partner governments have sought U.S. assistance in addressing diversion, which is fueling violence, criminal activity, and instability within their countries or regions.” Rubio himself has previously expressed agreement with the Biden administration’s position on the problem, telling a House hearing in May: “The cartels that operate within Mexico and threaten the state are armed from weapons that are bought in the United States and shipped there. We want to help stop that flow.” In justifying its decision to roll back the law last month, the Trump administration said it was causing American firearms manufacturers to lose “hundreds of millions of dollars per year in lost sales” by imposing “unnecessary regulatory burdens.” “By restoring export controls on firearms to the state they were in at the end of the first Trump administration, BIS [Bureau of Industry and Security] is advancing the administration’s commitment to reducing regulatory burdens on industry and law-abiding firearms owners,” it said. The issue comes as the administration continues to blow up alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, aggressions that its critics have warned fail to observe the demands of due process. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday that three further strikes had been carried out, killing 14 crew and taking the total number of “narco” vessels targeted to at least 13 since early September and the total number of fatalities to more than 50.
