One of the most egregious restrictions President Joe Biden’s Justice Department (DOJ) foisted upon American gun owners and gun dealers was the Final Rule that redefined who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. The law, which was designed to drastically reduce private sales of firearms, an American tradition since the country’s founding, was confusing enough that it forced many to not sell or purchase firearms because they were afraid of committing a felony for doing something they had done for years.
“Engaged in Business” Rule Unconstitutional
Now, in a lawsuit brought by the National Rifle Association and two individual members, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its statutory authority by issuing the 2024 Final Rule.
Change For The Better
In the case Butler v. Bondi, District Judge Corey L. Maze wrote in the ruling: “The Final Rule … embraces the concept that a single sale of a single firearm can constitute proof that someone is engaged in the business of dealing firearms: ‘there is no minimum number of firearms purchased or sold that triggers the licensing requirement.’ The Final Rule then goes further; it says that a license could be required even if no gun trades hands as long as there is an ‘offer to engage in a transaction, when combined with other evidence (e.g., where a person represents to others a willingness and ability to purchase more firearms for resale).’”
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Judge Maze further explained in the ruling that the Final Rule went well beyond how Congress had defined “engaged in the business.”
“To sum up, Congress decided that a person is not engaged in the business of dealing in firearms unless he deals firearms ‘as a regular course of trade or business,’” the judge wrote. Regular means repeated or often. So, regular business requires more than one firearm transaction involving a single firearm. Because the Final Rule says single transactions involving one firearm may be prohibited in some cases, it exceeds ATF’s statutory authority…
“For these reasons, the court agrees with Plaintiffs that ATF exceeded its authority when it interpreted the GCA to possibly prohibit a single purchase or sale or a single offer to purchase or sell a firearm.”
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Ultimately, the ruling is likely to ease concerns of gun owners when it comes to buying, selling, or trading firearms in a private manner. The fact that the Biden Administration overstepped its bounds was obvious from the start. It’s heartening to have a court come to the same conclusion.
