U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is the ranking member on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with gun control advocates and warned that proposed reforms from the U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would make it “easier for guns to get into the wrong hands” (i.e., criminals) and make it “harder for law enforcement to be able to protect us.”
Her claim isn’t just false, it completely ignores the government’s own data on how criminals illegally acquire firearms and misrepresents what ATF is actually doing with its regulatory reforms.
The reforms ATF recently announced didn’t change who is (still) prohibited from lawfully possessing a firearm. They (still) don’t legalize straw purchasing.
The reforms are a course correction after years of regulatory overreach by the Biden administration that too often treated lawful gun owners and firearm retailers as the problem instead of focusing federal law enforcement resources where they belong: combatting violent criminals, traffickers, straw purchasers and willful violators. This was, of course, the M.O. of the Biden administration — along with Rep. DeLauro — that deemed the lawful firearm industry “the enemy.”
Facts Don’t Lie
Rep. DeLauro’s argument rests on the tired gun control premise that every regulatory burden placed on lawful firearm businesses somehow stops criminals. Federal data prove otherwise.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that 90 percent of criminals in prison who possessed a firearm during their offense did not obtain it from a retail source. Criminals overwhelmingly get their firearms through illegal channels. They steal them. They buy them on the black market. They get them “off the street.” In other words, they violate the law.
Those are the facts. Rep. DeLauro is entitled to her opinion, but her statements at the press conference — and her true beliefs — suggest she’s ignoring what the data says.
Firearm retailers aren’t criminals. Law-abiding Americans who pass an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System verification arent breaking the law. Manufacturers, distributors, retailers and ranges are not responsible for the criminal misuse of lawfully made and sold products.
It’s already a felony for prohibited persons to possess firearms. It’s a felony to lie on the ATF Form 4473 when purchasing a gun at retail. It’s a felony to act as a straw purchaser, transfer a firearm to a prohibited person or traffic firearms without a license. The law has tools and it has teeth — prison.
Adding more compliance traps for lawful businesses doesn’t stop criminals who never intended to follow the law in the first place.
Crime’s Falling While Gun Ownership Is Rising
Rep. DeLauro’s warning also runs into another inconvenient fact. Violent crime is falling while lawful firearm ownership remains historically elevated.
FBI data showed violent crime declined nationally in 2024. Preliminary FBI data for 2025 showed a historic decline in violent crime, including a significant decline in murder. Connecticut reflects that trend as well. The state’s violent crime rate in 2024 was 43 percent lower than it was in 2014. Unsurprisingly, Rep. DeLauro chooses to ignore these statistics in her repertoire.
At the same time, lawful firearm ownership across the country remains historically elevated. More than 26.2 million Americans have become first-time gun owners just since 2020. Connecticut residents are part of that lawful firearms community, even while navigating some of the most restrictive state permitting and transfer laws in the country which do nothing to make the Nutmeg State safe.
That proves the gun control narrative is upside down. More lawful gun ownership has not produced the crime wave gun control advocates have hyperbolically warned about in recent years.
Criminals drive crime. Law-abiding gun owners do not. And, in fact, research supports the assertion that more law-abiding gun owners help reduce crime.
DeLauro’s Gun Control Record Is Clear
Rep. DeLauro’s preposterous remarks are not a one-off misstatement. They fit a long record of support for gun control policies that target lawful gun owners and the firearm industry.
Her own congressional materials call for universal background checks (that DOJ has said necessitates a national registry to work), bans on commonly owned semiautomatic firearms (blatantly unconstitutional), taxpayer-funded gun violence research (to push taxpayer-funded gun control) and efforts to hold firearm manufacturers liable for crimes committed by third parties (contrary to a 9-0 U.S. Supreme Court ruling). She has backed federal firearm storage mandates (unconstitutional) and mandatory gun buyback proposals (which are just forced confiscation schemes), including a tax credit for turning certain firearms over to law enforcement.
That is why her hyperbolic reaction to the announced ATF reforms was so predictable. For gun control advocates, any action that protects lawful gun owners or firearm retailers from regulatory overreach is portrayed as a threat to public safety. They say the same thing when ATF revises Biden-era rules to conform them to court decisions that have struck down those Biden rules, like the “Engaged in the Business” rule, as exceeding the statute passed by Congress.
ATF Will Remain Focused on Criminals
Following a review ordered by President Donald Trump to protect Second Amendment rights, the DOJ and ATF announced 34 regulatory actions intended to modernize regulations, reduce unnecessary burdens on law-abiding citizens and businesses and keep enforcement tied to statutory authority — which is exactly what a federal law enforcement agency should do.
ATF has made clear the proposals do not change who is prohibited from possessing firearms. Unlawful dealing, straw purchasing and trafficking remain illegal. Those who break the law remain subject to prosecution.
That should be the standard. New ATF Director Robert Cekada voiced as much once he was confirmed to his permanent position leading the agency, affirming to Members of Congress ATF’s commitment “to protecting and preserving” the right to keep and bear arms. The bureau, Director Cekada said, has “entered a new era of reform to rebuild trust with the industry, federal firearms licensees, lawful gun owners, and the public while still prioritizing our efforts on public safety.” Under his leadership ATF will not be weaponized against lawful firearm retailers over immaterial paperwork errors or used to chill lawful commerce through regulatory uncertainty. And, unlike the Biden administration, ATF will not exceed its statutory authority granted it by Congress.
The firearm industry supports prosecuting traffickers, straw purchasers and repeat violent offenders. It supports firearm safety, responsible storage and efforts that actually reduce crime. What the firearm industry opposes is using taxpayer dollars, agency rulemaking and enforcement pressure to burden lawful commerce and chill the exercise of a constitutional right.
Rep. DeLauro’s claim collapses under the facts. Criminals are not waiting for regulatory reform to break the law. They already break the law. The question is whether elected representatives in Washington, D.C., will focus on stopping them or continue blaming the lawful industry and the millions of Americans who follow the law every day.
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
Shes a marx*ist soci*list crone with really bad hair style choices. She chooses any platform that will get her attention as long as its something contrary to the constitution or satisfies her back door financial supporters.