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Zack Space BATFE reform

Citing the vital need to protect Americans from overzealous federal agents, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) today issued a challenge to those Members of Congress who supported his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) reform legislation, but have yet to sign on this Congress.



Audio: “This legislation is far too important to languish due to cold feet. Well-intentioned, law-abiding citizens are being unfairly targeted by federal agents who should be more concerned about the Second Amendment than their next promotion.



“It is time for my colleagues to step up and sign onto this legislation. The more support we can show for this necessary reform, the more likely it becomes that the bill will come to the Floor for a vote. We need all defenders of our Second Amendment rights to join in this effort.”



The bipartisan BATFE Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2009, which Space introduced with Rep. Steve King (IA-05), would replace the all-or-nothing rules for punishment with a graduated system, remove promotion guidelines that reward agents for the quantity of arrests and citations, and it would require the BATFE to establish intent behind minor violations. BATFE regulations now are so restrictive that if a person writes “y” instead of “yes” on a gun purchase form, the application is frequently rejected.



This legislation would:

* Create a system to provide more flexibility in punishing those who are found to have violated gun sales laws.
* Establish a solid legal requirement for determining the willful violation of the law.
* Create specific sentencing guidelines for dangerous felons convicted of a gun offense.
* Set limitations on the availability of electronic gun owner information to protect the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
* Allow security companies and ammunition manufacturers to purchase machine guns for product testing and international security personnel training.
* Ease the restriction on the importation of replacement parts for semiautomatic rifles.
* Direct that a suspension or fine be vacated if a court determines a licensee did not willfully violate the law with attorney’s fees awarded to cleared defendant.
* Direct that the number of warnings, amount of fines, or suspensions or revocations shall not be a factor in firing, promoting, or transferring agents.



Although not identical, this legislation is similar to a bill Congressmen Space and King introduced during the 110th Congress.

Space has issued a letter to his House colleagues:



Dear Colleague,



Like you, I have repeatedly heard from my constituents about how overzealous bureaucrats are chomping at the bit to take away their guns. The BATFE is a regulatory agency designed to protect people from those who seek to do harm, but it has significantly strayed from its mission. That’s why I have reintroduced legislation with Rep. Steve King to rewrite the system of administrative penalties at BATFE.



My bill, H.R. 2296, takes the emphasis off “gotcha” regulation and provides the flexibility to punish license holders based on the severity of the violation. Current law provides for either a warning or a complete revocation of a license. The bill also makes common sense changes to prevent simple paperwork errors—like writing “Y” instead of “yes” on an application—from being seen as willful violations of the law. It also strengthens BATFE by removing loopholes that drive gun dealers to the black market, and protects privacy overall.



I was encouraged to see 224 of my colleagues sign on to similar legislation in the 110th Congress, indicating broad, bipartisan agreement that the BATFE is truly in need of reform. That is why I am calling on the cosponsors of H.R. 4900 to reaffirm their commitment to protecting citizens from harm and protecting their constituents’ constitutional rights by signing on to H.R. 2296.



The following Members are current cosponsors, whom I thank for their unwavering support of Second Amendment rights:



Aderholt, Altmire, Bachmann, Bachus, Barrett, Barrow, Bilbray, Bilirakis, Blackburn, Boccieri, Boehner, Bonner, Boozman, Boren, Boswell, Boucher, Boustany, Brown, Brown-Waite, Burton, Calvert, Camp, Cantor, Carney, Carter, Cassidy, Chaffetz, Chandler, Childers, Coble, Conaway, Crenshaw, A. Davis, L. Diaz-Balart, Fallin, Franks, Gallegly, Gingrey, Gordon, G. Green, Hensarling, Herseth Sandlin, Holden, S. Johnson, Jordan, Kagen, Kline, Lucas, Luetkemeyer, Mack, Marchant, McClintock, McCotter, Michaud, C. Miller, J. Miller, Minnick, Olson, Paulsen, Pence, C. Peterson, Poe, Posey, Putnam, Ross, Scalise, Sessions, Shuler, L. Smith, Souder, Space, Tanner, Terry, Thornberry, Walz, Westmoreland, C. Wilson, J. Wilson, Wittman, D. Young



The following Members cosponsored the legislation last Congress, but have yet to sign on to this bill:



Akin, Alexander, Baca, Bartlett, Barton, Berry, R. Bishop, S. Bishop, Blunt, Boyd, Brady, Broun, Brown, Buchanan, Burgess, Buyer, Campbell, Cannon, Capito, Cardoza, Chabot, Cole, Cramer, Cuellar, Culberson, David Davis, G. Davis, L. Davis, Deal, DeFazio, Dent, M. Diaz-Balart, Dingell, Donnelly, Doolittle, Drake, Duncan, C. Edwards, Ellsworth, Emerson, English, Everett, Feeney, Flake, Forbes, Fortenberry, Foxx, Garrett, Gohmert, Goode, Goodlatte, Granger, Graves, R. Hall, D. Hastings, Hayes, Heller, Herger, Higgins, Hill, Hodes, Hoekstra, Hulshof, Issa, T. Johnson, Jones, Kanjorski, Keller, Kingston, Knollenberg, Kuhl, Lamborn, Lampson, Larsen, Latham, LaTourette, Latta, J. Lewis, R. Lewis, Lungren, Mahoney, Manzullo, Marshall, Matheson, McCarthy, McCaul, McCrery, McHenry, McKeon, McMorris Rodgers, Melancon, Mica, G. Miller, Mollohan, Jerry Moran, Murtha, T. Murphy, Musgrave, Myrick, Neugebauer, Nunes, Ortiz, Pearce, J. Peterson, Petri, Pickering, Pitts, Platts, Porter, Price, Pryce, Rahall, Radanovich, Rehberg, Renzi, Reynolds, H. Rogers, Mike D. Rogers, Mike J. Rogers, Ros-Lehtinen, Royce, P. Ryan, Salazar, Sali, Schmidt, Sensenbrenner, Shadegg, Shimkus, Shuster, Simpson, Adrian Smith, Stearns, Stupak, J. Sullivan, Tancredo, Taylor, Tiberi, Turner, Udall, Upton, Walberg, Walden, Walsh, Wamp, Welch, Weldon, Weller, H. Wilson, Wolf, C. Young



I hope my colleagues will agree that, now more than ever, we must fight against unnecessary regulation and stand with our constituents’ Second Amendment rights. I urge you to cosponsor this important legislation.



Sincerely,

Zack Space

Member of Congress