ERNO
02-05-2011, 13:10
The New York Times National Sat.,Feb. 5, 2011
Washington- The Obama administration on Friday rejected a request for an emergency rule requiring gun dealers along the Mexican border to report bulk sales of assault rifles, a proposal intended to make it harder for drug cartels to smuggle weapons.
The White House told the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that gunrunning to Mexico was a continuing problem, rather than the kind of fast-moving emergency that justified an exception to the normal process for reviewing proposed regulations.
Still, the administration said, the time elapsed since the bureau published it's request for the emergency rule on Dec. 17 would count toward the 60-day public comment period required by normal procedures. That means the bureau might still be able to impose the rule by late March.
Under the proposal, dealers in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas would be required to tell the bureau whenever they sold, to the same buyer within a 5 day period, two or more semiautomatic rifles of at least .22 caliber and the ability to accept a detachable magazine. Among such weapons are Ak-47's.
Dealers nationwide are already required to report bulk sales of handguns.
Supporters of gun rights have criticized the push for the regulation on semiautomatic rifles.
Washington- The Obama administration on Friday rejected a request for an emergency rule requiring gun dealers along the Mexican border to report bulk sales of assault rifles, a proposal intended to make it harder for drug cartels to smuggle weapons.
The White House told the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that gunrunning to Mexico was a continuing problem, rather than the kind of fast-moving emergency that justified an exception to the normal process for reviewing proposed regulations.
Still, the administration said, the time elapsed since the bureau published it's request for the emergency rule on Dec. 17 would count toward the 60-day public comment period required by normal procedures. That means the bureau might still be able to impose the rule by late March.
Under the proposal, dealers in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas would be required to tell the bureau whenever they sold, to the same buyer within a 5 day period, two or more semiautomatic rifles of at least .22 caliber and the ability to accept a detachable magazine. Among such weapons are Ak-47's.
Dealers nationwide are already required to report bulk sales of handguns.
Supporters of gun rights have criticized the push for the regulation on semiautomatic rifles.