Export reform triggers gun, ammo control shift

The Bureau of Industry and Security and State Department posted proposed rules to move certain firearms and ammunition from the U.S. Munitions List to the Commerce Control List.    The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) posted proposed rules on Monday to shift certain items from U.S. Munitions List (USML) categories to the Commerce Control List (CCL).
   The shift would affect categories I (firearms, close assault weapons and combat shotguns); II (guns and armament); and III (ammunition/ordnance). The complementary proposed rules, which have been posted to DDTC’s and BIS’ websites, have been submitted for publication in the Federal Register, the agencies said.
   Firearms and related articles inherently for military end use or that aren’t widely available in retail outlets will remain subject to State Department export licensing controls, a State Department spokesperson said.
   Once the rules are finalized, items widely available in retail outlets currently regulated under USML categories I-III will shift into the 500 series of controls in Category 0 of the CCL, remaining subject to export licensing requirements, interagency review and monitoring of commercial entities involved in export and sales, the spokesperson said.
   The proposed changes apply to exports and temporary importations.
   The proposed rules cover the last USML categories that have remained untouched by export control reform, an effort started by the Obama administration’s BIS and State Department in 2010, in part, to simplify export controls and ease the exporting process for U.S. firms doing business with products on the USML and CCL.
   “We anticipate that a number of firearms manufacturers, including many small businesses, that are currently required to register with the Department of State, will be relieved from an annual fee burden under this proposed rule,” the spokesperson said in an email. “The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security does not have registration requirements or export licensing fees.”
   The proposed rules would switch all non-automatic and semi-automatic firearms from the USML to the CCL, and the USML will continue to control all fully automatic firearms, including guns up to .50-caliber, guns at .50-caliber and above and shotguns, a State official said during a Tuesday call with reporters.
   The USML also will still control silencers, sound suppressors and mufflers, as well as large parts and components for automatic weapons that are the functional part for the weapon itself, including barrels, receivers, bolts, bolt carriers, slides and gears, for both automatic firearms and firearms using caseless ammunition, the official said.
   “The biggest change is that the commercial firearms industry will be able to use Commerce licensing but still have to face worldwide controls,” a Commerce Department official said on the call. “All licenses will be reviewed by the Department of State, Department of Defense and any other agency which so chooses.”
   Those agencies will maintain a strict interpretation of export control rules, but the items shifted to the CCL will be subject to less restrictions on associated business transactions, the Commerce official said.
   BIS and State said they will each administer 45-day public comment periods, starting on the day the proposed rules are published in the Federal Register.