More than 100 House Democrats have reportedly signed a letter from Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) to President Joe Biden urging him to expand the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) to include the gun used in the Boulder, Colorado shooting.
The Democrats told Biden in the letter (obtained by Punchbowl) that the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which is chaired by Thompson, “calls on you to take strong executive action to address serious inequities in the implementation of the National Firearms Act which is the federal law regulating the manufacture, transfer, and possession of certain classes of firearms.”
The letter pointed to a pistol (therefore smaller) version of the AR-15 known as the AR-556, the weapon that Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa allegedly used to fatally shoot 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder last week. The shooting occurred in Neguse’ district.
“For too long, gun manufacturers in order to circumvent the National Firearms Act have designed and marketed concealable AR-15 style firearms which fire rifle rounds,” the Democrats wrote. “Concealable assault-style firearms that fire rifle rounds pose an unreasonable threat to our communities and should be fully regulated under the National Firearms Act consistent with the intent and history of the law,” the Democrats wrote.
Punchbowl notes that guns covered by the NFA have stricter requirements for purchase, such as $200 fees, fingerprints, and photos of the customer, that can take much longer to complete that a simple background check for firearms that aren’t included in the law. Additionally, the customer must register the NFA gun with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The White House did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Congressional Dems have been making a renewed push to tighten gun ownership restrictions in wake of the shooting not just in Boulder, but also in the Atlanta, Georgia area the week before that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women.
