Attorney General Bonta Opposes ATF Proposal to Loosen Safeguards for Weapons Made for Federal Government Contracts

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in urging the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to withdraw a proposal that could allow more machine guns, silencers, and destructive devices made for the U.S. government to be diverted for sale to civilians and law enforcement agencies if they are not used pursuant to the federal contract. Under current law, manufacturers producing these especially dangerous weapons under federal contracts must generally destroy or export excess weapons that fall out of a federal contract, unless ATF makes an individualized determination that the manufacturer’s out-of-contract weapons may be registered late with ATF. The proposed rule would instead clear an automatic path for commercial sale without existing case-by-case review. The states warn that the change would endanger public safety, undermine firearm tracing, and remove an important incentive for manufacturers to not produce more uniquely dangerous weapons than the government needs.
 
“Weapons made for U.S. government contracts should not be funneled into civilian markets through an automatic rubber stamp,” said Attorney General Bonta. “ATF’s proposal would weaken oversight, undermine firearm tracing, and create new opportunities for machine guns, silencers, and other dangerous weapons to be lost, stolen, or trafficked. We urge ATF to withdraw this dangerous proposal and keep the safeguards that protect our communities in place.”
 
Today’s letter builds on California’s coordinated multistate response announced on August 10, challenging other recent ATF rulemaking actions that would weaken federal firearm regulations. The National Firearms Act (NFA) imposes strict registration and transfer controls on weapons considered particularly dangerous for civilian possession. While manufacturers may be relieved from registration requirements on a case-by-case basis while producing weapons under a federal contract, current law does not automatically allow them to register and sell NFA weapons that are rejected, left over, or stranded when a contract ends.

ATF’s proposal would amend federal regulations to remove an important guardrail—ATF’s careful review and approval of individual exemption requests—and replace it with automatic self-registration that ATF never reviews. ATF’s own economic analysis estimates that the change could generate $611.3 million in annual profits for manufacturers of certain destructive devices alone — just one type of weapon regulated under the NFA — and $217.6 million in annual savings on disposal costs. The states argue that ATF relies heavily on undisclosed industry information to support these estimates while failing to evaluate the proposal’s public safety costs.
 
In the comment letter, the states argue that the proposed rule:

• Would remove an existing cost incentive for manufacturers to produce only the contractually required amount of NFA-regulated, unregistered weapons, which increases the risk that the weapons are lost, stolen, diverted, or trafficked.
• Would weaken the complete and accurate registration records that state and local law enforcement rely on to trace firearms recovered in crimes.
• Conflicts with federal law and is unsupported because ATF identifies no failure in the existing case-by-case process, overlooks the states’ public-safety concerns, and relies on industry information that it has not disclosed to the public.

 
For these reasons, the coalition urges ATF to withdraw the proposed rule and retain the current safeguards.
 
California joined the attorneys general of Illinois, Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington in filing the comment letter.
 
Here is a copy of the comment letter.