US To Ease Firearms Export Rules

[Ignition Override]

Still confused about how allowing easier Exports might translate into huge numbers of Imports. What would the govt's incentive be, unless currying more favor with specific countries, while ignoring lobby groups promoting more American jobs?

Even if it could happen, nobody would expect prices for foreign surplus (or semi-commercial 'milsurp') rifles to be anywhere near prices of 30 years ago., maybe not as they were 10-20 years ago.

But at least the attention now focused on heavily-discounted ARs might help prices for imported SKS, AK rifles etc, or parts kits.

 

[hq]

From European perspective where we can get just about any chinese gun we like, I'd much prefer being able to buy american guns without being drowned in red tape trying to get export permits from the US. Some Norincos are pretty good for their price but many of them are utter junk.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I want our import rules eased.

 

[armarsh]

They would also be a target for the same kind of safety engineering that SIG now has recover from - tell me how an inexpensive Chinese gun will pass not only the current standards but the new ones imposed by consumers - that the gun must always go off when you pull the trigger, but never go off when abused. Emphasis on "never." Not even once.

We don't trust the current makers to supply "drop safe" firearms - but we want to buy more guns from known cost cutters who under engineer things? Yes, China does make good products, but we aren't talking about those, it's the substandard junk bought up by the conex load by hucksters who see us as ignorant marks to be fleeced.

Plenty of that going on right now, add a layer of cheap guns to it and you have lines of new buyers toting their Chinese "Glok" out the door for $199. We will shortly be discussing collector grade Hi Points and the awesome score we made on GB buying one.

Glad I bought all metal guns already. Gerber made the first FRN handled knives, good quality, Glock did the same with polymer frames, but a bucket of guns at the checkout counter for $24.88 could be the result if we let this play out. : )

I know the thread is supposed to be about export, but like many others I find the discussion about importing much more interesting.

I'd like to see buckets of guns for $24.88. They would suit the people that only have $25 to spend to defend themselves perfectly. I may or may not want one, it would depend on if I perceived them to be a decent value. Just because an inexpensive product is available it does not follow that expensive, hopefully high quality products are not.

Now to be fair, Sig is the one that has an issue with drop safety, not High Point, nor some Chinese or Turkish knock-off. This is a Sig failure and at the price point Sigs are sold at they have no excuse.

 

[rodregier]

As a Canadian resident and a participant in the shooting "game", what I would most look forward to
under a simplified US Export regime would be better access to gun parts and accessories.

As it stands many US manufacturers and resellers of parts and accessories don't do *any* exports because
the annual ITAR fee would be far beyond any expected profit from foreign sales.
This denies such product innovations to foreign buyers in friendly countries.

Fulton Armory, Midway USA and Suarez International (?) are non-exclusive examples that come to mind.
There are *many* others. My understanding is that Midway USA at one time during ITAR's presence was exporting to Canada,
but fell afoul of ITAR compliance and after paying a hefty fine ceased exports.

ITAR rules are not blocking exports of firearms to Canada by the majors such as
Glock, SIG, Savage, S&W etc. The paperwork is the same for 1 or 10,000 guns.
The majors don't make single gun shipments.

Where it becomes an issue are the many possible lower dollar value export shipments.