SHOT Show Surprise: Bloomberg Leaks Biden Draft Rule On Gun Export Restrictions

ZeroHedge is boots on the ground (Read: Day 1 SHOT) at the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show), the world’s largest shooting sports, hunting, and law enforcement industries expo of its kind, this week. 

Ahead of SHOT Show, industry insiders said to be on watch for a ‘SHOT Surprise’ – last year was the ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) unveiling the “Stabilizing Braces” rule – now it appears anti-gunners at Bloomberg have leaked parts of Biden administration’s new draft rule that seeks to curb exports of semiautomatic weapons.

It’s crucial to recognize that the timing of the new draft rule’s release is not accidental. This timing was chosen to coincide with SHOT, where the world’s top firearms manufacturers showcase their products. 

Furthermore, the leaking of the draft rule via Bloomberg makes perfect sense, considering billionaire Mike Bloomberg wages war on the Second Amendment via his anti-gun group “Everytown for Gun Safety.” So, it’s an ideal combination for the anti-gunner billionaire and anti-gunners in the White House to deliver a SHOT surprise. 

The surprise is a draft rule governing commercial exports of semiautomatic weapons. This was made possible after a Commerce Department review of US firearms manufacturers following a Bloomberg investigation that allegedly links US gunmakers to overseas crimes. 

Commerce officials last week described the proposed changes to advocacy groups and others, telling them the State Department would have more influence over vetting exports to countries with bad human-rights records, according to people who were briefed.

They said Commerce officials pointed to incidents where legally imported US guns were tied to high-profile crimes, including a 2022 mass killing in Thailand and the August assassination of the leading presidential candidate in Ecuador. -BBG

Here’s more on the draft rule that was leaked:

According to the draft rules, officials would create distinct trade categories for semiautomatic firearms — including pistols, rifles and shotguns — making it easier for federal regulators to scrutinize exports of those weapons. -BBG 

Bloomberg journos are walking SHOT floors this week. They spoke with Jordan Young, chief executive officer of Global Defense, a Pompano Beach, Florida-based exporter of firearms, who said this about the speculation of the draft rule:

“It’s bad for the economy, it’s bad for our industry.

“If I can’t ship anything at the end of the day I have no business.”

The new draft rule appears to be the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Commerce Department to attack the firearms industry.

And, of course, Bloomberg ignores the military-industrial complex (Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and many others), sending weapon systems around the world that have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, over the last several decades. That is very biased reporting from a media outlet where the founder is waging war against 2A via a non-profit.