Overview
- Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Gregory Meeks asked Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler for a full accounting of export licenses for semi‑automatic firearms approved since January 2025.
- They requested license totals, destination countries, buyer types, and details on any monitoring meant to stop guns from being diverted into illegal markets.
- The lawmakers invoked their oversight power under the Export Control Reform Act, which allows their committees to obtain export control information from the Commerce Department.
- They cited ATF data showing that legal U.S. exports make up nearly 20% of crime‑gun traces in Central America and more than 37% of traces outside North America.
- They set an April 13 deadline for a written response and committee briefing, framing the request as a follow‑through on a 2023 Commerce pause on most civilian gun and ammo export licenses and on Warren’s recent push to curb sales from an Army‑owned Missouri ammunition plant.