Dubbed the Sporting Firearms Access Act, which was first shared with the Washington Examiner, the bill would amend the Gun Control Act of 1968 to define “sporting purposes” for authorized imports to include hunting, target shooting, and competitions. This would prevent the ATF from “arbitrarily” restricting firearms.
Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized current regulations as a “chokehold on law-abiding gun owners’ Second Amendment rights.”
“Barring the import of firearms for legal sporting activities is bureaucratic red tape at its finest,” Risch said. “My Sporting Firearms Access Act sets the ATF’s definition of sporting purposes straight to ensure Idaho’s hunters, skeet shooters, and sportsmen are not denied the import of firearms or ammunition to enjoy these pastimes.”
The Gun Control Act of 1968 generally only allows the imports of certain firearms for sporting purposes and was enacted after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gun advocacy groups such as the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation endorsed Risch’s proposal, saying it would offer clarity to the law that governs millions of imported firearms each year.
“Many of the preferred firearms used by sportsmen and women across the country are imported from other countries for use in hunting and recreational shooting, and this legislation provides needed clarifications that firearms for these activities are lawful importations,” said Jeff Crane, president and CEO of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.
Democrats have long opposed such a change and advocated that President Joe Biden direct the ATF to further restrict imports under the agency’s “sporting purposes” authority.
Dozens of Democrats cited in a 2023 letter to Biden that the ATF had not reviewed the eligible shotguns for over a decade and eligible rifles in over 20 years. They said technological advances warranted more import restrictions.
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“The White House should direct ATF to review the lists of firearms, firearm parts, and related accessories being imported under the ‘sporting purposes’ exception to determine whether those products are still used for legitimate sporting purposes by law-abiding citizens and thus still satisfy the standard for that exception,” the Democrats wrote. “If they do not, ATF should ban their import.”
Original co-sponsors of Risch’s bill include a dozen Republicans: Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rick Scott (R-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), and Ted Budd (R-NC).
