Republican attorneys general from 20 states are taking up the fight against President Joe Biden’s executive gun control regarding firearm parts and kits.
The AGs are issuing comments on the Alcohol of Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) proposed rule change issued in response to Biden’s call for DOJ regulatory gun control in lieu of legislative action.
Biden has not been able to get any movement on gun control in Congress, and the executive/regulatory route provides a way he can try to implement a limited number of changes. Breitbart News noted the DOJ put forward a “ghost gun” rule proposal on May 7, 2021.
The rules would require serial numbers to be added to gun parts “in easy-to-build firearm kits.” It would also require Federal Firearm License holders (FFLs) to add a serial number to any previously built or 3D-printed gun that “they take into inventory.”
In this August 29, 2017, file photo, an ATF agent poses with homemade rifles, or “ghost guns,” at an ATF field office in Glendale, California. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Fox News reported that Arizona AG Mark Brnovich and West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey led the group of AGs in voicing opposition to gun control.
AG Morrisey said:
Private individuals and businesses have the right to assemble firearms for their own use — a fact borne out in early American history and expressly recognized by the Gun Control Act. The Second Amendment is a core tenant of our Constitution, and this regulation would treat the activity of assembling firearm parts as a problem to be stamped out, rather than a right and tradition to be respected.
Together, the 20 AGs noted that the ATF is authorized to regulate firearms and receivers that are complete, but the agency is not authorized to regulate parts in an incomplete receiver.
The AGs noted, “By allowing ATF to decide for itself which firearms it will regulate, unconstrained by Congress’s guidance, the proposed rule is unconstitutional.”
In addition to Arizona and West Virginia, the remainder of the AGs are from “Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota.”
Biden is also seeking regulatory changes on AR-pistols with stabilizer braces.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) noted that stabilizer braces were originally approved because of their value in allowing injured combat veterans to steady the pistol and continue to enjoy the Second Amendment. He is fighting Biden’s gun control push, claiming it is an attack on “our Second Amendment and our veterans.”
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. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.