U.S. Democrats blast Commerce Department for overseeing heavy increase in gun exports

NEW YORK, July 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democrats in the House and Senate are rebuking the Joe Biden administration over a decision to leave in place a Trump-era regulatory change that detractors argue caused gun exports to soar, including to countries with poor human rights track records, reported U.S. news portal Roll Call on Monday.

As a presidential candidate, Biden said he would reverse a decision by the Trump administration to move export oversight of firearms from the State Department to the Commerce Department. But 18 months into his administration, that has yet to happen -- even as gun sales, including those of semiautomatic weapons, have ramped up steeply.

"There are fewer registration requirements, less oversight, more exemptions, and significantly curtailed congressional review," House Representative Joaquin Castro told a House Foreign Affairs hearing last week. "It was essentially a giveaway to gun manufacturers a few years ago, and it seems to have worked."

Deepening the frustration felt by Capitol Hill Democrats and independent arms control advocates is that switching firearms export oversight back to the State Department is one concrete action fully within Biden's presidential authorities, said the report.

"They also argue it could have a tangible impact on international gun violence rates even as prospects for a gun control bill at home remain dim," it added.