Firearm Export Control Moves to State Department: New Bill Targets Illegal Gun Trafficking to Mexico and Caribbean

The Americas Regional Monitoring of Arms Sales Act of 2025, or ARMAS Act, is a major shakeup in how the U.S. handles gun exports, especially to our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere. Simply put, this bill takes control over exporting certain firearms and military items—called “covered munitions”—away from the Department of Commerce and hands it over to the Department of State. The Commerce Department typically focuses on promoting U.S. exports; the State Department focuses on foreign policy, security, and human rights. This move, which must be completed within one year of enactment (Sec. 4), is a direct response to findings that U.S.-sourced firearms are fueling organized crime and violence in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean (Sec. 2).

The Great Export Control Swap

For years, the Commerce Department had jurisdiction over licensing the export of many types of firearms, including pistols and semi-automatic rifles. The bill notes that since this shift happened, there was a 30 percent increase in firearm exports and a massive spike in exports to countries like Guatemala (Sec. 2). This new legislation permanently transfers the regulatory authority for these items—specifically those that were previously on the State Department’s Munitions List—back to the State Department (Sec. 4). This shift means that export licenses will now be reviewed through a foreign policy and human rights lens, rather than an economic one. Crucially, the Commerce Department is explicitly barred from promoting the sale or export of these covered munitions going forward (Sec. 11), a provision that will certainly frustrate U.S. firearms manufacturers who rely on government promotion for international sales.

The New ‘Covered Countries’ List and the Certification Freeze

The ARMAS Act immediately designates 10 countries—including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, and Jamaica—as “covered countries” (Sec. 8). This designation triggers the bill’s most immediate and potentially disruptive provision: a general prohibition on transferring covered munitions to the governments, organizations, or citizens of any covered country (Sec. 9(a)). This effectively freezes the sale or transfer of certain U.S. firearms to these nations until the State Department can certify that a new, rigorous tracking and monitoring program is established (Sec. 9(a)). This program needs to maintain detailed records, register serial numbers, and implement strict end-use monitoring to prevent diversion. If you are a government agency in, say, Mexico or Honduras relying on U.S. security assistance, this means a temporary halt to receiving new shipments until the State Department builds and certifies this complex system.

The National Security Loophole

While the bill sets up this immediate freeze, it does include a significant escape clause. For the first year, the Secretary of State can waive the prohibition on transfers to a covered country’s government if they certify that it is in the U.S. national security interest (Sec. 9(b)). This waiver authority is a big deal because it means that even if the new tracking program isn't ready, the Secretary can still approve critical security transfers, potentially keeping existing security cooperation going. However, this also introduces a risk: if the national security justification is used too broadly, it could undermine the bill's goal of stopping exports until the tracking is fully functional. The bill requires recertification of the tracking program every three years, and then annually, to keep the transfers flowing (Sec. 9(c)).

More Oversight, More Tracing

Beyond the control transfer, the ARMAS Act mandates heavy lifting on the part of the State Department. Within 180 days, the Secretary of State must deliver a detailed report to Congress on all federal efforts to disrupt illegal firearms trafficking to the covered countries (Sec. 5). Following that, the State and Commerce Departments must develop a joint interagency strategy with specific performance measures and timelines to stop the flow of guns (Sec. 5). The bill also directs the ATF to ensure its eTrace system—which helps law enforcement trace the origin of recovered firearms—is available in French and Haitian Creole to boost participation by Haitian authorities (Sec. 6). For the average person, these provisions mean that the U.S. government will be much more focused on finding out exactly how U.S. guns are ending up in the hands of cartels and gangs, potentially leading to better enforcement and more prosecutions of gun traffickers.