Judge Grants Gun Owners of America’s Request for ‘Expedited Briefing’ on ATF Background Check Rule

A customer holds a handgun for sale at Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Kentucky, U.S.,
on Cherry/Bloomberg via Getty
AWR Hawkins

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk on Friday granted Gun Owners of America’s (GOA) request for an “expedited briefing” on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) universal background check rule.

The rule is set to go into effect on May 20, 2024, and the GOA, the Gun Owners Foundation, and the State of Texas hope to block it before its implementation.

Kacsmaryk ordered that the ATF respond to the filing for preliminary relief by 5:00 p.m. CDT on May 14, 2024.

Subsequently, the GOA, the Gun Owners Foundation, and the State of Texas must “reply in support of their motion for preliminary relief”  by 5:00 p.m. CDT on May 15, 2024.

Breitbart News reported that the ATF’s universal background check rule implements a point-of-sale background check system that both Republican and Democrat-controlled Congresses have refused to enact for decades. The agency’s rule redefines what it means to be “engaged in the business of selling guns,” thereby expanding the instances in which an unlicensed seller — i.e., a private citizen — must use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to sell/transfer a gun.

The rule changes language in a way that there is no clear line of demarcation between private gun sales and guns sold by Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders. Ambiguity is introduced into the equation, forcing every seller to prove he is not trying to make a profit, lest he be required to ensure the purchaser undergoes the NICS before taking possession of the firearm.

Moreover, Breitbart News pointed out that the ATF’s rule changes language to such a degree that people who smuggle guns into other countries for the purpose of selling them are required to avail themselves of NICS checks. While the rule centers on the gain of “profit” as a test for whether a NICS check must be involved, pages 26-27 of the rule equate “pecuniary gain” with “profit,” opening the door for the ATF to redefine the word “sale” and require a NICS check when a private seller is “bartering” over a gun.

The case is State of Texas v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, No. 2:24-cv-00089-Z, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division.

AWR Hawkins: Universal Background Checks = Gun Registry

ahawkins

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, and a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Beef is his favorite vegetable. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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