DOJ Ramps Up Efforts to Combat Firearms Trafficking as Congress Passes Gun Safety Reform

     This June, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act was signed into law, the first major overhaul of America's shipping industry in 25 years; the Senate passed the Honoring Our PACT Act, the biggest bill for veterans in modern history; senators reached a bipartisan agreement to reform the Electoral Count Act and prevent future coup attempts; senators also agreed on a bill to cap insulin costs and further reform the system as a whole for diabetics; the House passed a landmark bipartisan bill to preserve America's wildlife; and work continues on the Bipartisan Innovation Act.

     Also this month, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first federal law to restrict firearms purchasing in nearly 30 years. This bill provides a historic $15 billion in funding, including for school safety and mental health for youth. These two provisions were inserted to appease the Republican side, although it is worth noting that, even after the historic American Rescue Plan Act, school counselors are still in short supply, especially when compared to school liaison officers; any investment in youth mental health, no matter when or why, is sorely needed.

     The heart of this bill makes sure those who shouldn't get ahold of firearms don't. In March, President Biden reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act without closing the boyfriend loophole; this bill does just that, banning those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses from owning firearms for five years after they are finished serving their criminal sentence. It provides funding for states to implement red flag laws, it expands requirements for firearms dealers with federal licenses, it creates the first criminal penalties for firearm trafficking and straw purchasing, it expands background checks for young adults, and it provides funds for crisis intervention programs (which were part of the five-pronged approach to violent crime President Biden launched a year ago).

     This also brings up a few good points. First, President Biden is now well on his way to something I predicted roughly six weeks ago: investing more in crime prevention and control than any president in U.S. history. This is a $15 billion bill specially crafted to combat gun crime. The American Rescue Plan Act included nearly $16 billion in crime prevention and control funds, bringing the total to $31 billion. President Biden's 2022 and 2023 budgets have and will, respectively, make massive investments in our criminal justice system, from funding the COPS Program to increasing the DOJ's budget to prosecute civil rights offenses and so much more. Even when inflation is factored in, President Biden is on track to far outdo Bill Clinton, or any other president for that matter, on investing in keeping our communities safe from violent crime.

     This bill will save thousands of lives. I can't say the children of Uvalde laid down their lives for this, because that is not a choice a child is capable of making or that anyone should have to make. I will say that the survivors of this and other mass shootings and their relatives, those who have dedicated so much time and effort to preventing others from meeting the same fate, deserve credit for this. Uvalde will not be another shooting after which nothing was done. After Atlanta, Congress passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. After Uvalde, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. President Biden and Congress should ensure the Buffalo shooting also produces action with further executive action on hate crimes to build on the Emmett Till Antilynching Act signed in March as well as the passage of the CROWN Act to stop race-based discrimination.

     In the meantime, as the agency's 50th anniversary approaches in just one week, the Senate should confirm Steve Dettelbach to head the ATF, which would make him only the second confirmed director since 2007 and the first since 2015. The House should pass the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act and introduce and pass an Assault Weapons Ban and the Senate should vote on these as well as the Enhanced and Bipartisan Background Checks Acts. They are all virtually guaranteed to fail in the latter body, but a series of votes on these bills would make perfectly clear to the American people where each and every senator stands on these issues. Finally, President Biden can take further executive action to build on the historic actions he has already taken. 

     The Justice Department is certainly ramping up its efforts to crack down on firearms traffickers. It began with the indictment of one of North America's largest firearms traffickers, a man named Demontre Hackworth, who bought and sold at least 75 firearms in six months, one of which was seized in the possession of a convicted felon just a week later, several of which were involved in shootings, at least one of which was involved in a murder, and many more of which were involved in violent crimes across the United States and Canada. Just today in my home state of Wisconsin, for example, one felon was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal firearm possession and another felon to three years in prison for the same crime.

     This also highlights a final important point: gun laws save lives. One man indicted today shipped numerous firearms into blue New York from red Ohio. Over 90 percent of guns used to kill people in Chicago come from outside of the state, as evidenced by the indictment of 12 people for trafficking firearms into the city a number of months ago. Part of his first executive actions on gun violence saw President Biden order the DOJ to crackdown on the "Iron Pipeline" that sees firearms illegally shipped from the South, where gun laws are lax, to the Northeast, where gun laws are tight. The existence of gun violence in liberal states does not disprove the effectiveness of gun control and safety measures: these guns overwhelmingly come from conservative states.

     The DOJ is ramping up its efforts to combat firearms trafficking, and, with the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, this work will be taken to the next level.