The Trump administration has finalized new rules that loosen export control regulations around small arms, something that’s been in the works for a couple of years now. We’ve written about the topic a number of times (see here, here, and here).

As law360.com explains,

The new rules would shift various small arms and ammunition from the U.S. Munitions List, part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, to the Commerce Control List, bringing them under the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations, or EAR. The ITAR governs defense-related exports, while the EAR controls “dual-use” items that can be used for either commercial or military purposes and has less strict export licensing requirements than the State Department’s rules. The intent behind the rules is to allow the government to make better use of its limited export control resources and reduce procedural burdens and costs on U.S. firearms manufacturers, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security.

The move also kills the punishing gunsmith tax that was imposed by the Obama Administration on almost every gunsmith in the country.

The NSSF released this statement in praise of the move: