Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent letters to UPS and FedEx demanding information on their altered policies on firearms and whether they are in cooperation with federal agencies.
“What this looks to me, and a lot my colleagues, is the administration … can’t get more gun control passed through the Senate and through the House. And so what they’re trying to do is pressure their friends in large business to do it for them,” Montana AG Austin Knudsen told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Wednesday.
Knudsen received complaints from “several Montanans who hold Federal Firearms Licenses (FFLs)” who told the attorney general that new regulations and information collection effectively circumvent warrant laws.
17 other state attorneys general joined Knudsen in sending letters to UPS and FedEx leaders, asking the companies to “clarify” the policies they say are allowing the companies to track gun purchases.
HELENA, Mont. — Montana Attorney General and 17 other state attorneys general are concerned shipping companies like FedEx and UPS are tracking gun purchases, and that those companies are possibly sharing that information with federal authorities.https://t.co/F43v47BSan
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) November 30, 2022
From the Montana Department of Justice:
Seventeen state attorneys general joined Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen today in asking major shipping companies to clarify new policies that allow them to track firearm sales with unprecedented specificity and bypass warrant requirements to share that information with federal agencies.
Reports from Montana federal firearm license (FFL) holders made to Attorney General Knudsen’s office indicate that UPS and FedEx are now burdening them by requiring them to ship separately and track firearms, firearms parts, and firearm products so gun purchases can be tracked and retain documents about what specific items those shipments contain and make that information available to the companies upon request.
Knudsen and the coalition of attorneys general sent letters today to leadership at both companies requesting additional information on their new policies and the possibility that the effort was coordinated in part with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
“These demands, in tandem, allow [UPS/FedEx] to create a database of American gun purchasers and determine exactly what items they purchased… In doing so you, perhaps inadvertently, give federal agencies a workaround to normal warrant requirements. This allows [UPS/FedEx] to provide information at will or upon request to federal agencies—information detailing which Americans are buying what guns,” Attorney General Knudsen’s letters state. “Additionally, we recommend that you consider taking actions to limit potential liability moving forward, including the immediate cessation of any existing warrantless information sharing with federal agencies about gun shipments.”
In addition to requesting updated FFL-related shipping policies from the two companies, Attorney General Knudsen asked them to clarify the following:
- Did UPS/FedEx enact these policies with the goal of information sharing with the ATF or any other federal agency;
- Did UPS/FedEx enact these policies at the request of officials in ATF, a different federal agency, or on its own initiative;
- If UPS/FedEx implemented these policies at the request of a federal agency, please identify that agency, the officials who made that request, the nature of that communication, and any legal authorization cited by those officials;
- If UPS/FedEx changed its policies on its own initiative, please explain why it made those changes;
- Did UPS/FedEx communicate or coordinate with each other in making these changes; and
- Did ATF or other federal agency employees help draft the updated shipping agreements?
Fox Business reported:
A spokesperson for FedEx told Fox News Digital that the company “is aware of the letter from the state attorneys general.”
“We are committed to the lawful and safe movement of regulated items through our network,” the statement added.
Fox News Digital also reached out to UPS, ATF and the White House for comment.
Knudsen and the other state AGs are calling on the companies to clarify whether the new policies were enacted with the “goal of information sharing with the ATF or any other federal agency;” if the policies were enacted at the request of a federal agency; and to name the federal agency if the policies were enacted at the request of the federal government.
“This is already highly regulated. It isn’t like you can just ship a gun through the mail to somebody. Federal law prohibits that. You have to ship from one federal firearms license holder to another federal firearms license holder. Whoever is receiving that firearm has to go through the same background check as you would if you walked into a gun store. So this is already quite cumbersome and quite regulated. Well now we’re in a situation where UPS and FedEx magically together at the same time, come up with this brilliant idea, each on their own to require three different shipping accounts,” Knudsen told Fox News Digital.
Knudsen said he finds it “extremely convenient” that both UPS and FedEx rolled out the policies at about the same time.
“This smells of the ATF. This smells of the Biden ministration. And that’s what we’re asking for. I want to know, is this through the ATF because it is then they’re in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act,” he said.
State attorneys general who signed one or both letters include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The letters called on UPS and FedEx to address the questions in the letters within 30 days.
Read the letters delivered to the shipping companies HERE:
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