A gun for sale at Gun Allama in Caso in Jersey City, New Jersey. It has been open since 1967 (Photo: Aristide Economopoulos/New Jersey Monitor)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s decision to restore the ability to legally purchase firearms and explosives of 10 prisoners violated the law, according to a letter from six high-ranking Congressional Democrats released Friday.
Ministry of Justice Disclosure of interim final rules Moving the authority to restore prisoners’ gun rights from the Alcohol Department, cigarettes, firearms and explosives to the Attorney General also violated the separation of state affairs and the decades-old provisions of the department’s annual funding bill. 12 pages of letters.
Democrats wrote that while Congress delegated the ATF decades ago the power to “oversee restoration of federal firearm privilege applications,” lawmakers have included language in almost every government funding bill that prohibits the ATF from spending money to process those applications.
The ban, following then Democrat Bill Clinton, attempted to move powers from the ATF to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Given the widespread use of gun violence in our country, this administration should not circumvent Congress’s authority to prioritize restoring firearm privileges to individuals convicted of serious or violent crimes,” Democrats wrote.
The letter was signed by Rosa Delaulo, D-Conn, a ranking member of the House Budget Committee. Senate budget ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash; House Judicial Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, D-Md. ;Senate Judicial Rankings member Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Housing Budget Commercial – Grace Meng, Dn.Y, ranking member of the Judicial Science Subcommittee. and Senate Budget Commercial – Ranking Member of the Judicial Science Subcommittee Chris Van Hollen, D-MD.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the state newsroom.
Mel Gibson Case
DOJ under President Donald Trump has been restored so far 10 individuals The ability to legally purchase firearms, including actor Mel Gibson, who “didn’t file a dispute on domestic violence charges,” in 2011, was Reuters.
Federal Law Some types of people bar Usually, it is from legally purchasing firearms that include those sentenced to a prison for more than a year in prison, which is consistent with those who committed felony and domestic violence.
Six Democrats said: “The intersection of firearms and domestic violence remains a major concern, indicating the need to protect guns from the hands of domestic abusers.
“Investigations show that the presence of firearms significantly increases the risk of death or serious injury to victims of domestic or dating violence. The Supreme Court recognizes that the risk of domestic abusers with guns serves as a limit to the second amendment.”
Democrats wrote that for decades, Congress has been preventing the ATF from restoring the ability of banned people to legally purchase firearms. The annual DOJ Expenditure Bill also prohibits moving the ability to approve those applications from the ATF to other federal agencies.
“The concerns that have originally led to these provisions — recidivism crimes, limited research resources, and difficulties in assessing applicants — have not changed,” they wrote. “Under wasting funds to assess whether to restore firearm rights of previously convicted felons, Congress made explicit policy choices to prioritize investigating crimes.”
Cited research
The letter says the study From the Violence Policy Center, which considered restoration in the late 1980s, this is one of many reasons why Congress banned the ATF from restoring the ability of several felons to legally purchase firearms.
The investigation reviewed 100 ATF case files obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, showing that the federal government has restored the ability of “terrorists, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, barrel traffickers and child abusers” to legally purchase firearms and explosives.
“Of those who were given relief between 1985 and 1989, 47 were later re-arrested for serious crimes, including attempted murder, first-degree sexual assault, inducement, child abuse, cocaine, trafficking of LSD, illegal possession of PCP, and unlawful possession.
The letter ends with Democrats calling for the DOJ to withdraw the interim final rule and “empty the restoration of federal firearm privileges that were misappropriated to 10 individuals.”
