Republican Lawmakers Oppose ATF’s Proposed Gun Control Rule Change

Members of Congress claim the proposed rule is unconstitutional and that ATF broke the Administrative Procedures Act by refusing to accept physical petitions.

(L) Hunter King, director of Government Relations for the National Association for Gun Rights, (NAGR) and (R) NAGR president Dudley Brown attempt to deliver 40,000 petitions to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Nov. 30, 2023. Courtesy the National Association for Gun Rights

Close to three dozen members of Congress have signed two letters expressing concerns over a proposed rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to redefine what constitutes dealing in firearms.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), author of one of the letters and co-signer on the other, is concerned that the proposed rule change is “even more radical than progressive gun groups were lobbying for.”

An ATF spokesperson did not respond to telephone calls and emails from The Epoch Times seeking comment on the letters.

According to gun rights activists, the proposed rule would virtually eliminate private gun sales.

In his letter, sent on Dec. 7,  the last day of the public comment period, Mr. Good warns ATF Director Steven Dettelbach that the proposed rule is an unconstitutional overreach by the agency.

“The ATF is using the [Bipartisan Safer Communities Act] BSCA to substantially revise all regulations governing who and what constitutes a “dealer” and how such dealers may conduct business. This proposal advances a radical left-wing agenda that will undermine the Second Amendment and the Constitutional rights of all Americans,” Mr. Good wrote.

Mr. Good goes on to say the proposed rule would redefine several phrases, including “personal collection, [and] personal collection of firearms.” It would also add a definition of “Predominantly earn a profit” and revise the definition of “Principal objective of livelihood and profit.”

“If enacted, the result will be a significant increase in burdensome paperwork, and more unnecessary background checks run for what was previously a lawful transaction,” he wrote.

Eight other Republican members of Congress signed Mr. Good’s letter.

Mr. Good was also one of 24 co-signers of a Dec. 6 letter from Rep. Andrew Clyde to Mr. Dettelbach raising concerns over the ATF’s alleged refusal to accept 40,000 petitions from the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) opposing the rule change.

“This is a flagrant abuse of the First Amendment rights of 40,000 American citizens, some of whom are our constituents. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution specifically protects the right of every American to petition their government for a redress of grievances,” Mr. Clyde wrote in his letter.

According to a press release from the NAGR, on Nov. 30, Hunter King, director of Government Relations, and Dudley Brown, president of NAGR, attempted to deliver 40,000 petitions to ATF headquarters in Washington. The press release states that they were turned away by ATF personnel.

“This rejection not only infringes on the First Amendment rights of 40,000 American citizens but also raises questions about the ATF’s commitment to the public comment process, a critical aspect of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) and the E-Government Act of 2002” the NAGR press release reads.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) wears a gun tie pin during a news conference with members of the House Freedom Caucus outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 12, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Mr. Brown said the ATF has made it clear that it is not interested in hearing from anyone who disagrees with the proposed rule change.

“We’ve gone through all the channels to deliver these petitions properly. We’ve sent numerous emails and called a dozen times, and yet the ATF has no answer,” Mr. Brown wrote in the press release.

“If our members continue to be silenced by these ATF bureaucrats, the ATF will be hearing from our lawyers.”

Mr. Clyde also invoked the APA and E-Government Act of 2022 in his letter to Mr. Dettelbach.

“Moreover, the E-Government Act of 2022 requires agencies to accept electronic submissions for public comment in addition to—not in lieu of—physical submissions,” Mr. Clyde wrote. “We urge you to immediately remedy this situation and provide an avenue to accept the approximately 40,000 petitions.”

On Dec. 8, the day after the public comment period ended, more than 230,000 of the 323,710 public comments received electronically supported the plan. This is an estimate based on a review of the comments by The Epoch Times.

Commenters Support Rule

Second Amendment advocates say the comment section shows an organized anti-gun campaign combined with cynicism among gun owners.

“Frustrated citizens frequently disengage from the process of public comment periods for new and unconstitutional rules. They unfortunately feel like their voices aren’t heard by ATF and that the Biden Administration won’t take these comments seriously,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

The ATF proposed the rule to bring gun regulations in line with the BSCA passed by Congress in June 2022.

The BSCA, which gun control activists tout as “the most significant gun safety legislation in 30 years,” changed the definition of a gun dealer from a business that buys and sells firearms with the objective of “livelihood and profit” to anyone who sells a gun for profit.

Second Amendment advocates say that private individuals who sell a gun to a friend, neighbor, or family member would have to have a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and run a background check on the prospective buyer under the new rule.