NRA endorses Tester’s bill aimed at allowing antique gun re-importation, sales

Senator’s legislation would allow American-made firearms abroad to be re-sold to U.S. collectors

(U.S. SENATE) – The National Rifle Association today announced its support for Senator Jon Tester’s legislation to allow American-made guns that were given or sold to a foreign government to be re-imported and sold in the U.S.

Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, released the following statement in support of Tester’s Collectible Firearms Protection Act:

"The importation restrictions of M1 rifles and carbines was a de-facto gun ban," Cox said. " These firearms are sought after by gun collectors as they are a part of America’s history. They are also commonly used for lawful purposes such as hunting, sports shooting and self defense. On behalf of the tens of millions of law-abiding American gun owners, I would like to thank Senator Tester for his leadership in presenting a legislative fix to this backdoor gun ban."

“This is a common sense bill that is designed to allow law-abiding Americans own a piece of history,” said Tester, Chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. “This is a simple issue of making sure that a government bureaucracy doesn’t stand in the way of our Second Amendment rights.”

Tester’s bipartisan Collectible Firearms Protection Act comes after he pushed the U.S. State Department to reconsider a decision denying the proposed sale of surplus M1 Carbines and Garand rifles from South Korea to qualified buyers in the U.S.  Many collectors consider these antique firearms to be of important historical military significance.

Under Tester’s bill, firearms that are lawfully possessed by a foreign government—and that are more than 50 years old and considered antiques or relics—may be re-imported to properly licensed groups and sold without written permission from the U.S. Departments of State or Defense.

Tester introduced the Collectible Firearms Protection Act today. The bill is cosponsored by Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska). It is available online, HERE.