Anti-Gun AGs Target ATF’s Proposed Rule Changes

The public comment period on the almost three dozen proposed rule changes released by the ATF earlier this year is now closed, and the agency is wading through the thousands of submissions before releasing its final rules in (hopefully) a few months. ATF Director Robert Cekada has worked to bust the myths about some of the proposed rules that have been peddled by gun control groups and anti-gun politicians, but the misinformation campaign continues even now that the public comment period is over. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James wants to prevent the federal government from rolling back years of hard-won gun control rules. Since May, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has proposed tweaking 32 firearm regulations that are supposed to keep dangerous people unarmed, support law enforcement investigations, and prevent gun trafficking.

But James and a coalition of 22 other state attorneys general submitted 13 feedback letters since August 4, making the case that the feds are putting weapons in dangerous hands and making it harder to solve crimes. The Democratic New York State Attorney General alleged that the White House under Republican President Donald Trump—another New Yorker—is trying to erase bipartisan progress at the expense of public safety, all to help the gun industry profit. 

James and her fellow attorneys general say that one of the ATF”s proposals “would allow individuals with certain state-issued permits to purchase firearms without undergoing the federally required background check, creating new opportunities for prohibited purchasers and gun traffickers to obtain firearms,” without noting that there are already 26 states with specific concealed carry or alternative firearm permits that qualify as an exemption to the NICS check under existing law. 

Another proposal would allow gun buyers who’ve had their identity verified through both a third-party service like ID.me and through a video conference with an in-state FFL to purchase a firearm without appearing in person at the gun shop. James and her anti-gun buddies claim that proposal would “make it easier for children, gun traffickers, and individuals at risk of hurting themselves or others to obtain weapons,” without ever explaining how, exactly, these individuals would be able to bypass the security procedures the proposed rule would put in place. 

James and the other Democrat AGs also take issue with several of the proposed rules that are designed to bring ATF policy in line with court decisions that found several Biden-era rules unenforceable, like the broad definition of who is “engaged in the business” of dealing firearms, the rule treating most brace-equipped pistols as short-barreled firearms, and the “zero tolerance” policy that led to FFL license revocations for minor paperwork and clerical errors that were deemed “willful” violations of ATF regulations. 

The AGs even take issue with the proposed rule updating the agency’s interpretation of the Firearms Owners Protection Act that would allow gun owners who are traveling to stop for gas, car repairs, and overnight stays without committing a federal crime. The proposed rule would also cover the interstate transportation of gun parts and accessories, leading James and her crew to complain that it “would allow people to transport dangerous gun accessories across state lines into states where they are banned, such as New York.”

That’s always been the case with firearms, so why not accessories too? If I’m driving from Virginia to Maine with one of my AR-15s, I can transport it through Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts (all states with “assault weapon” bans) so long as it’s unloaded and inaccessible. Why, then, should it be illegal for me to bring a couple of 30-round magazines with me as well? 

Because these attorneys general are always looking for ways to trip up lawful gun owners and turn them into criminals. In New York, simply carrying a pistol without a state-issued permit is treated as a violent felony offense, and I strongly suspect that James would love to be able to apply that to lawful gun owners who have to travel through New York to reach their final destination. 

The concerns outlined by the attorneys general in their comments are untethered to reality, and are meant to deceive the public instead of informing the ATF. I doubt that James and her anti-gun allies are going to be able to stop these new rules from being rolled out, but you’d better believe they’re going to do everything in their power to render them moot in the states where they hold power.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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