HYDE-SMITH, COLLEAGUES DEMAND ANSWERS FOR SHIPPING POLICIES TARGETING SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) is among a group of lawmakers who are demanding several major shipping companies explain their policies that discriminate against the firearm and ammunition industries through prohibitions ranging from rejecting shipments containing certain firearm parts to total bans on firearms and ammunition.
Led by U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), 15 Senators signed letters to Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn (DHL), XPO Logistics, and Saia that remind the companies that the responsibility for enacting policies that affect gun manufacturing and purchases belongs to Congress, not freight companies.
“[DHL/XPO Logistics/Saia’s] policy is an affront to the Second Amendment and discriminates against the millions of law-abiding citizens, including many of our constituents, who utilize and value their constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” the Senators wrote. “Your policy also discriminates against businesses engaged in the lawful commerce in firearms, ammunition and related products, including federal firearm licensees, who utilize your services to ship their products.”
“When . . . freight carriers engage in policy making from the boardroom and implement discriminatory practices, they are interfering in the lawful commerce of firearms, limiting distribution and market access, resulting in fewer options and higher costs for businesses and consumers,” the Senators continued. “But even more importantly, they are infringing on the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment.”
The letters ask the companies to explain why they adopted anti-Second Amendment policies, whether they coordinated with anti-gun activists or government officials when drafting the policies, and whether these companies have any federal contracts. The Senators request responses from the shipping companies by Aug. 4.
In addition to Crapo and Hyde-Smith, U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kan.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) also signed the letters.
A copy of the full letter to DHL can be found here, XPO Logistics here, and Saia here.
In February, Hyde-Smith cosponsored the Firearm Industry Non-Discrimination (FIND) Act (S.428), legislation that would prevent any entity that discriminates against firearm businesses or associations from contracting or subcontracting with the federal government.
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