{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-lummis-join-bill-to-hold-the-atf-accountable/", "Barrasso, Lummis Join Bill to Hold the ATF Accountable", "2023-12-20", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "CASPER, WY \u2013 U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., joined Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and their Republican colleagues in reintroducing the ATF Accountability Act of 2023 to provide transparency at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for gun owners and manufacturers across America.\n\nThe ATF engages in a secretive classification review process where the agency makes decisions about whether a particular firearm is regulated by the National Firearms Act. Decisions and justification for decisions are often only made available to manufacturers in private correspondence. This causes uncertainty for both gun-owning Americans and firearm manufacturers, especially in combination with the ATF\u2019s refusal to make public rules regarding classification final.\n\n\u201cEvery day, people in Wyoming responsibly use their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms,\u201d said Senator Barrasso. \u201cFor far too long, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has had regulations that keep responsible gun owners and manufacturers in the dark. Any attempt to stop law-abiding citizens from appealing unfair rulings must be stopped dead in its tracks. I will continue to stand up against any policies that threaten our Second Amendment rights.\u201d\n\n\u201cD.C. bureaucrats cannot be allowed to criminalize law-abiding gun owners with the stroke of a pen behind closed doors,\u201d said Senator Lummis. \u201cProtecting the Second Amendment has never been more important after Senate Democrats attempted to jam through an assault-weapons ban just last week. The ATF Accountability Act strengthens the people of Wyoming\u2019s constitutional right to bear arms by creating a pathway to legally challenge any new restrictive regulations.\u201d\n\n\u201cAmerican gun owners and manufacturers have been left in the dark for far too long with closed-door rule changes by the ATF,\u201d said Senator Braun. \u201cAmericans exercising their Second Amendment rights shouldn\u2019t be the last to know the classification status of firearms, or what licenses or tax stamps they need to avoid running afoul of the law. The ATF needs accountability and transparency, which this bill accomplishes.\u201d\n\nThe ATF Accountability Act:\n\n\u2022 Creates an appeals process following a ruling by ATF with specific regular timeframes\n\n\u2022 Permits gun manufacturers to appeal the legal status or classification of any product by filing with the Director of Industry Operations with jurisdiction. After which, the appeal is directed to an administrative law judge\n\nThis legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).\n\nFull text of the legislation can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-lummis-join-bill-to-hold-the-atf-accountable/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4603468589484692, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}