The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention held a webinar on Friday, Sept. 20, to “celebrate” one year since the office was created and to pat itself on the back for its “accomplishments.” The office was established as a go-between among White House staff, the Biden-Harris administration, and national gun control groups to coordinate efforts to suffocate the lawful firearm industry and attack firearm businesses. It is, after all, headed up by President Joe Biden’s “gun czar” Vice President Kamala Harris and staffed by a who’s-who of gun control activists, including a former senior lobbyist for Everytown for Gun Safety.
The web-only celebration wasn’t public, of course, and it required prior registration and approval to view.
Left Unsaid
Missing from any mention during the webinar was the fact that the White House is more than two years overdue on instituting a Congressionally mandated rule to allow federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to access the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to run checks on current and prospective employees to determine whether they are prohibited individuals making them effectively ineligible for employment with a licensee. Currently licensees can only contact NICS during firearm transfers.
In fact, prior to the update – and until there is an actual final rule published – ATF expressly prohibits the use of NICS to run employee background checks. It says:
- Unauthorized Use — An FFL is never authorized to utilize the NICS for employment or other type of non-Brady Act-mandated background checks. An FFL must have a signed ATF Form 4473 prior to initiating a NICS check. Per 28, C.F.R. §25.11 of the NICS Regulations, accessing or using the NICS, or permitting access to or use of the NICS by another, for any unauthorized purpose is a violation of federal law, sanctions for which may include criminal prosecution, a civil fine not to exceed $10,000, and/or cancellation of the NICS inquiry privileges.
The firearm industry has long supported the employee verification measure to help ensure firearms remain out of the hands of individuals who shouldn’t possess them.
The employee screening provision was included as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) that was signed into law by President Biden in June of 2022. The law gave the administration 90 days to implement the employee verification provision. It’s now been more than two years and the administration has yet to publish even a proposed rule or an interim final rule.
The Biden-Harris administration’s disdain for the firearm industry is well known. Who can forget President Biden deeming us “the enemy” from the debate stage in 2019. Still, that hasn’t stopped firearm retailers from doing all they can to cooperate with law enforcement and to work to prevent firearm accidents and suicides. It’s beyond aggravating that the Biden-Harris administration continues to stonewall even the common sense solutions that everyone agrees on.
Bluster and Fluff
The administration trumpeted data from the Gun Violence Archive, a dubious outfit that’s been roundly criticized for its numbers and figures, suggesting there’s been a reduction in crime across the United States. The Biden-Harris administration attempted to take a victory lap.
When it comes to crime statistics, though, the White House wants to have its cake and eat it too.
“Homicides have dropped 17% in the period, building on the largest-ever drop in homicides in 2023,” the White House said. It also repeated data from the Gun Violence Archive that showed “mass shootings” were also down 20 percent to date in 2024 compared to a year earlier and would reach their lowest level this year since 2019.
There is plenty of legitimate concerns with using Gun Violence Archive data, and there are significant concerns with recent crime data being released that suggest lowering crime while also omitting several major crime centers from the data.
But The White House conveniently ignores that there are more than 22.3 million new first-time gun owners since 2020, a number representing an entire state of Florida of new gun owners. That number certainly will make would-be criminals think twice before attempting their crimes.
Parting Shot
President Biden may not be running for a second term, but he’s doing all he can to make sure his gun control agenda continues beyond his term. Last week, he and Vice President Harris spoke from the White House yet again to announce even more executive actions on gun control. But there was still no word on the overdue rule to permit FFLs to screen current and prospective employees. And should the vice president become President Harris, she will no doubt push gun control even more severely than the current administration.
All gun owners and Second Amendment supporters must register to vote and #GUNVOTE on Nov. 5 so they don’t risk their rights.
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
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