WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department on Friday announced new restrictions on U.S. firearms exports in an effort to prevent weapons from ending up in the hands of drug traffickers and criminals in other nations.

Oversight of legal firearms exports has become a political fight in Washington since the Trump administration in 2020 moved oversight from the State Department to the Commerce Department, a move that was widely seen as favorable to the firearms industry. Firearms. President Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign pledged to reverse the measure “if necessary.” Since then, some Democratic lawmakers in Congress have scrutinized the rate of approvals for weapons exports, including semi-automatic weapons, saying they spark violence and unrest around the world.

In October, the Commerce Department froze gun exports, which was criticized by the National Rifle Association and Republican lawmakers. On Friday, the Commerce Department said it would lift the suspension of exports starting May 30, but with new rules and stricter review standards.

The changes include denying most export licenses to commercial entities in 36 countries that the State Department determines are high-risk locations for illegal arms trafficking or that undermine U.S. national security. The new regulations also track sales more closely and reduce the validity of export licenses from four years to one year.

“The Department of Commerce is protecting America’s national security by making it harder for criminals, terrorists, and cartels to obtain American-made firearms. “Too often, firearms exports fall into the wrong hands and end up being used in ways that directly undermine the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

The department expects the changes to affect about $40 million of the $600 million in international sales that U.S. gun makers make on average annually.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who has called on the Commerce Department to change its policies, said on X that he was “glad” to see the new regulations.

“We should not export our epidemic of gun violence,” he said.