AIM Act Could Strengthen Public Safety by Improving ATF

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) introduced the Improvement and Modernization Act (AIM) that would modernize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to improve gun safety. The bill itself would remove statutory restrictions that prevent ATF from protecting the public from violent criminals and combating black market weapons smuggling, according to its authors.

Senator Van Hollen said of the bill, “For too long, barriers erected by gun-industry hardliners have hampered ATF’s ability to crack down on illegal gun trafficking and the small number of reckless gun dealers who are responsible for selling most of the guns that fall into dangerous hands. We must eliminate those obstacles so ATF can truly meet its public safety mission and reduce gun violence. This commonsense legislation puts forward sweeping changes that will help ATF – and our country – tackle the gun violence epidemic.”

This bill would allow ATF to better do its job by promoting cross agency information and resource sharing. It has three aspects: (1) to make it easier for other agencies to work with the ATF, (2) to protect the public from dangerous weapons, and (3) to make the ATF more responsive to the public and researchers.

The bill has multiple provisions including allowing the ATF to maintain a national centralized firearm database so they can return trace data to law enforcement more quickly, allowing the ATF to conduct multiple inspectors of a dealer in a year, allowing the ATF to deny a firearm license for lack of business, and allowing the ATF to make trace data available to the public so universities and public research groups can study it.

Several gun safety organizations and non-profits support the AIM Act including Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, and March for Our Lives.

Adzi Vokhiwa, Giffords Federal Affairs Director, said of the bill, “Americans know we face a gun violence crisis. Too often we don’t see or think about the men and women at ATF working to make our country a safer place. Their ingenuity and courage has been tragically limited by a federal government which has tied ATF’s hands at every turn. Senator Van Hollen and Representative Beyer are taking an important step to correct this mistake by introducing the ATF Improvement and Modernization Act. We are proud to support this legislation that finally allows ATF the freedom and ability to do its job proactively and effectively. If we’re serious about saving lives, Congress will pass this bill immediately.”