The Trace Trots Out New Argument About Biden’s ‘Engaged in the Business’ Rule for Gun Sales

Ever since the Trump administration announced it was getting rid of the “engaged in the business” rule put in place by Joe Biden and then-ATF Director Steve Dettelbach, the gun control lobby has been squawking that the repeal will fuel gun trafficking and let dangerous people purchase firearms even though they can’t pass a background check. 

CeasefirePA’s Adam Garber, for instance, claims repeal of that rule, which treated almost every private seller of a single firearm as an unlicensed gun dealer, and the ATF’s move to repeal its rule treating almost every brace-equipped pistol as a short-barreled rifle, will “allow more gun trafficking, more deadly, concealable firearms and will mean lives lost.”

Moms Demand Action head Angela Ferrell-Zabala has claimed repeal of the rule ” would be a victory for gun traffickers and a gun industry that continues to profit from a crisis that takes the lives of 120 Americans every single day.”

Everytown president John Feinblatt has called the ATF’s new rule package, which includes the repeal of the “engaged in the business rule,” an act of “sabotage” on “the only federal agency dedicated to keeping guns out of criminal hands.”

Today, however, the unofficial press outlet of the gun control lobby is singing a different tune. The Trace has published a piece headlined, “The Trump Administration Made a Big Show of Repealing a Biden-Era Gun Rule. It Never Amounted to Much Anyway,” arguing that an analysis of “more than 600 federal prosecutions found the rule didn’t have the intended effect.”

The Trace reviewed cases in which prosecutors charged people for dealing firearms without a license — the law the Biden rule was meant to interpret. The cases, which range from 2022 through 2025, include little evidence supporting the Trump administration’s claims that the ATF pursued overzealous enforcement against otherwise lawful private sellers. Instead, they depict an ATF focused on international trafficking conspiracies, the metastasis of covert gun markets across the country, and the proliferation of homemade, untraceable “ghost guns.”  

Though a small number of cases omitted details about the alleged activities that led to the person’s arrest, our review found that the Biden rule did not significantly change the types of cases prosecutors brought: Investigations launched before the rule largely mirror those after its implementation. 

“At the ATF, we’re rarely going 600 after borderline cases,” said James Balthazar, a former supervisory special agent who retired in 2023 after 24 years with the agency. “We’re trying to put away criminal gun dealers who are the source of most illegal gun trafficking in the United States. Administrative rules don’t really change that prerogative.” 

Because The Trace reviewed only federal criminal court records, the analysis doesn’t include cases prosecutors declined to pursue, civil forfeiture, or regulatory and administrative matters in which the rule may have influenced the ATF’s decision-making.

I rarely recommend reading a report from The Trace, but in this case it’s probably worth your time. Reporters Champe Barton and Chip Brownlee do a pretty good job of making the case that the Biden rule didn’t result in prosecutions for things like a single offer of a gun for sale, even though the rule would have allowed for that. And they quote ATF General Counsel Robert Leider, who says The Trace’s analysis of 600 prosecutions “provide an incomplete picture of the rule’s impact because some ATF investigations never result in charges.”

Don’t expect many anti-gun groups to adopt The Trace’s position that Biden’s version of the “engaged in the business” rule was much ado about nothing. They’re not likely to do a complete turnaround on the rule, its impact, or its repeal when they’re so dependent on complaining about Trump’s every move to keep their supporters engaged and mobilized. But it will be fun to quote The Trace the next time an activist like Kris Brown or Gabby Giffords complains that the repeal will make the country a more dangerous place.  

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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