NEW RULES ON BORDER GUN SALES

The Justice Department said Monday it would begin requiring gun shops
in four states along the U.S.-Mexico border to report when a buyer
purchases two or more semi-automatic rifles.

The new requirement, the Obama administration's first major
gun-control regulation, is similar to one that has been in place
nationwide since 1968 for handguns and has been in the works for more
than a year. It reflects a boost in efforts to halt cross-border
trafficking of weapons to Mexico, administration officials say.

The measure is opposed by Republican lawmakers and gun-rights groups,
which have run Internet campaigns seeking to stop it, calling it a
violation of lawful gun owners' constitutional rights. Some lawmakers
have introduced restrictions in spending bills aiming to block such a
regulation, which could gain steam now that the directive has been
finalized.

James Cole, deputy attorney general, said drug-trafficking
organizations are major buyers of certain types of semi-automatic
rifles and that the weapons are frequently found at crime scenes near
the border. The reporting requirement applies to multiple sales of
certain rifles to the same person within a five-day period. Mr. Cole
said it would improve law enforcement's ability to "detect and disrupt
the illegal weapons trafficking networks responsible for diverting
firearms from lawful commerce to criminals and criminal
organizations."

The new "long-gun" regulation is a rare foray into gun control by the
Obama administration, which has shied away from such issues. The 2006
election ushered into office Democrats from pro-gun states, many of
whom lost their seats in 2010.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is
mired in a separate controversy over an Arizona gun-tracking operation
gone awry, will administer the new regulation in California, Arizona,
New Mexico and Texas. The controversial program was designed to
monitor=ADbut not stop=ADfirearms purchases by people suspected of buying
weapons for Mexican drug gangs. Many of the arms turned up at crime
scenes in the U.S. and Mexico.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas), chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, said the new regulation limited the Second Amendment rights
of lawful citizens, while not stopping drug cartels from getting
weapons. "It is the height of hypocrisy for the Obama administration
to restrict the gun rights of border-state citizens, when the
administration itself knowingly and intentionally allowed guns to be
trafficked into Mexico," he said.

Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's
lobbying arm, said in an interview that the group will file a lawsuit
to stop a regulation that exceeds the ATF's legal power. "When they
issue the demand letters" seeking information from the 8,500 gun
dealers in the four states, "we'll take them to court," he said.

The administration's move came the same day GOP lawmakers sent a
letter to Attorney General Eric Holder raising new concerns over the
handling of ATF's gun-tracking operation, called Operation Fast and
Furious. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R.,
Iowa) said in the letter that their probe of the ATF operation found
that a shared computer drive holding key documents was accessible to
potential witnesses in the congressional investigation. The lawmakers
questioned whether the practice of sharing such documents could taint
witness testimony. The Justice Department has since discontinued the
sharing of such documents.

The Justice Department and ATF didn't immediately have a comment on
the letter.

Mr. Grassley criticized the new gun regulation, saying that his
investigation into Fast and Furious suggests dealers are already
willing to report suspicious transactions. He added that the new
regulation won't stop small-time crooks from buying small numbers of
weapons.

"The administration's continued overreach with regulations continues,
and is a distraction from its reckless policy to allow guns to walk
into Mexico," he said.