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<p>The second highest ranking official at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has written a proposal to reduce gun regulations, including examining a possible end to the ban on importing assault weapons into the United States.</p> <p>The 11-page 'white paper' by Ronald B. Turk, associate deputy director and chief operating officer of the ATF, calls for removing restrictions on the sale of gun silencers; allowing gun dealers to have more guns used in crimes traced to their stores before the federal government requires additional information from the dealer; and initiating a study on lifting the ban on imported assault weapons.</p> <p>"Restriction on imports serves questionable public safety interests, as these rifles are already generally legally available for manufacture and ownership in the United States," Turk wrote of the ban on imported AR-15s and AK-style weapons.</p> <p>The white paper, obtained by The Washington Post, is titled "Options to Reduce or Modify Firearms Regulations." The proposal opens with the wording of the Second Amendment and is dated Jan. 20.</p><p><a href='https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senior-atf-official-proposes-loosening-gun-regulations/2017/02/06/beeb1120-ec7c-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html' class='out'>https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senior-atf-official-proposes-loosening-gun-regulations/2017/02/06/beeb1120-ec7c-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html</a></p>