Federal Judge Blocks ATF Rule Expanding Definition of Gun Dealer

The Biden administration said the rule will close loopholes that have allowed gun sellers to avoid becoming licensed dealers.

A magazine is loaded into a Sig Sauer P320 compact semiautomatic pistol at a gun shop in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 13, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

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.”