A federal judge in Texas has blocked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from implementing its new rule, which critics say dramatically expands the agency’s enforcement scope by redefining who is a gun dealer.
In his opinion handed down June 11, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas said the enforcement of the new rule relies on “highly problematic” presumptions that will “trigger civil or criminal penalties for conduct deemed lawful just yesterday.”
The rule in question was unveiled in April as part of President Joe Biden’s effort to close what he called “loopholes” in the federal gun background check system. The president said those gaps have allowed sellers to avoid becoming federally licensed gun dealers while still selling guns at gun shows or on the internet.
To close the gaps, the new ATF rule declares that a person no longer has to make a living selling guns to be considered “engaged in the business” of selling guns. Instead, someone who sells or offers to sell just one gun with the intent to “predominantly earn a profit” may be deemed an unlicensed gun dealer, and will be required to be registered with the federal regulator and conduct background checks on potential customers.
It further clarifies that a single transaction may be sufficient to require someone to become a licensed dealer, so long as there is other evidence to suggest commercial activity. For example, someone who sells one gun and then tells others about the possibility of buying more guns for resale, may be required to get a license.
Rule Details
The new rule lists certain actions that could be used by the federal government as evidence of someone selling guns to earn a profit. Those include advertising, setting up a system to accept credit card payments, renting space to sell guns, applying for a state or local business license, or hiring security.
“If you are conducting business that in a brick-and-mortar store would require you to become a licensed dealer, you have to become a licensed dealer and run background checks,” the White House explained in a readout. “It does not matter whether you are dealing firearms at a gun show, online, in your home, in the trunk of a car, at a flea market, or anywhere else—you must obtain a license and run background checks results.”
“This is going to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and felons. And my administration is going to continue to do everything we possibly can to save lives,” President Biden said.