U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.-08) have introduced new legislation aimed at preventing the federal government from contracting with firearms dealers who are identified as having a history of selling guns that turn up as being used in violent crimes. The bill, known as the Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act, seeks to address gun violence by limiting government contracts to responsible firearm dealers.
The proposed legislation builds on existing federal law, which requires federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) to report if they have sold 25 or more guns in a single year that are subsequently traced to violent crimes within the past three years. Under the new law, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) would identify dealers with a pattern of gun sales tied to criminal activity and render them ineligible for federal contracts.
“Far too often, lucrative federal contracts are inexplicably awarded to firearm dealers who have been linked to dangerous crime,” Senator Padilla said. “Our common-sense legislation aims to combat senseless, preventable gun violence by ensuring that gun dealers follow responsible business practices to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands.”
Representative Raskin echoed these concerns, stating, “With gun violence continuing to ravage America’s social contract and terrorize our communities, it is incumbent on Congress to act swiftly to pass common-sense gun safety policy like our Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act.”
Note: They both use the standard Democrat buzzword to be used with every utterance of “gun legislation” and that is to precede it with the adjective “common sense,” though they are more often senseless in that they will do little to nothing to prevent crime.
The bill is also supported by the usual anti-gun organizations such as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Mark Collins, the organization’s Director of Federal Policy, emphasized the need to direct taxpayer money to responsible gun dealers, stating, “The Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act will ensure that the small portion of dealers that supply crime guns do not have the privilege of doing business with the federal government.”
In addition to Padilla and Raskin, the bill is co-sponsored the typical who’s who of Democratic lawmakers, including Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The ATF’s Demand 2 Program, established more than two decades ago, currently works to trace firearms used in crimes by establishing their chain of custody from the manufacturer to the first retail purchase…a de facto gun registry if you will though federal law does not permit a registry of gun owners to be kept. Go figure! The new legislation would leverage this tracing system to target dealers contributing disproportionately to gun trafficking and violence.
Senator Padilla has been a vocal advocate for restricting gun freedoms and ownership, including voting in favor of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, which aimed to strengthen background checks and red flag laws.
