Rounds, Cruz and Colleagues Oppose Biden's DOJ Expanding Firearm Definitions

Press Release

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and 20 colleagues have introduced a Congressional Review Act Joint Resolution of Disapproval (CRA) to prohibit President Biden's Department of Justice from implementing a new rule to expand firearm definitions.

The Biden administration wants to institute a final rule redefining a "firearm" under federal law to not only mean a complete product, but also its individual parts, often included in a weapons parts kit. If implemented, this new rule would require gun kits and gun parts to be regulated as if they were fully functional firearms, meaning they would not be able to be sold without a serial number or without the buyer having to undergo a background check. The new rule would also require those with Federal Firearms Licenses to retain records permanently. The current rule, which the Biden administration seeks to change, allows for the disposal of records after 20 years.

"This particular proposal uses no common sense whatsoever," said Rounds. "Our Constitution says, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.' Unfortunately, the Biden administration continues to play by the D.C. Democrat playbook of gun control. As a supporter of the Second Amendment, I oppose any efforts to restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners."

"For the past two years, we've seen crime rates skyrocket all across the country, aided by Democrats' soft-on crime policies and left-wing district attorneys operating like progressive activists instead of law enforcement officers," said Cruz. "Democrats would love nothing more than to shift the blame and stoke anti-gun sentiment, and create a permanent national gun registry in the process. By introducing this resolution, we're pushing back--we want to stop the Biden administration from issuing the final rule expanding the definition of firearms and instituting a national gun registry, we want to stop the false narrative that links the rise in crime to "ghost guns' and firearms, and we want to protect law-abiding citizens who are exercising their Second Amendment rights."

Senators joining Rounds and Cruz are James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Risch (R-Idaho), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

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