OPINION - EDITORIAL

Others say - Don't ease gun export rules

President Donald Trump, who has received unprecedented support from America's gun lobby, seems determined to make it easier to export firearms and harder to keep track of whether they're destined for terrorists or rogue regimes. He proposes to do this by shifting oversight of the export of semi-automatic and non-automatic firearms, as well as of various gun components and some types of ammunition, from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce.

The change threatens to undermine national security and public safety around the world. Congress should stop it from taking effect.

The U.S. is already the world's biggest firearms exporter, shipping roughly $7.5 billion worth of guns, artillery and ammunition from 2013 to 2017. Some of this equipment has ended up with al-Qaida fighters and other terrorists, undermining the struggle to keep lethal weapons out of the hands of America's enemies.

The Trump administration also plans to end State Department oversight of the publication of computer code enabling 3D printable guns. That would make it easier for people inside and outside the U.S. to make untraceable firearms at home and, like the change to gun-export authority, make guns more plentiful and difficult to regulate.

Editorial on 04/23/2019

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