By: José Niño
Per a report by the New York Times, the Biden administration will use executive orders and ATF powers to issue a new rule that would limit the private sale of firearms. John Crump of AmmoLand reported that this new rule is expected to be rolled out by the end of 2023.
The Biden administration plans to instruct the ATF to shut down what anti-gunners label as the “private sales loophole” and the “digital loophole.” In simpler terms, the “private sales loophole” involves an individual, who does not have a Federal Firearm License (FFL), selling a firearm for profit.
Biden wants the ATF to establish a new rule mandating individuals who reap profits from the sale of firearms to possess an FFL. As Crump noted, “Guns tend to increase in value over time” so a firearm “purchased in 1980 will likely sell for more money today than its original value,” thereby subjecting countless individuals engaging in otherwise lawful firearms commerce to burdensome regulation.
Online marketplaces such as Armslist Firearms Classified fall under the so-called “digital loophole.” In these marketplaces, private individuals can place their firearms for sale. The Biden administration is seeking to shut down these marketplaces. However, constitutional questions will likely arise as the new rules begin to be rolled out. Crump observed that firearms websites such as Armslist do not directly sell firearms.
This rule is still in draft form and is expected to be announced later in 2023. The announcement will be followed up by a public comment period. The final rule is expected to be revealed in late spring or the early summer of 2024. Its effective implementation date is slated for the fall of 2024. These dates are still very much subject to change.
In recent months, the ATF has faced challenges for its rule changes — bump stock rule, frame/receiver rule, and pistol brace rule — that have seen its powers be gradually undermined. In their rulings, the courts have determined that the ATF does not have the power to pass these rules which undermine Congress’s power to create laws. In an effort to prevent another string of defeats, the ATF and the Justice Department will claim that the power to force private sellers to acquire an FFL was granted to them by Congress via the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA).
The BSCA was a bipartisan-supported gun control bill that changed the definition of what constitutes a “gun seller.” Specifically, the BSCA changed the text of Section 921(a) of Title 18, United States Code. The definition changed from an individual “engaged in the business” of selling firearms from “with the principal objective of livelihood and profit” to a more ambiguous description of “to predominantly earn a profit.” The Biden administration is currently taking advantage of this change to roll out its new ATF change.
Dudley Brown, the president of the National Association for Gun Rights, commented on the ATF’s latest attempt to attack gun rights:
“Don’t forget that Biden is using S.2938, last year’s great Republican Gun Control surrender as his justification for this blatantly unconstitutional gun grab. This is what the culture of compromise in the GOP gets us, gun registration by executive fiat. Nice going John Cornyn.”
Private firearms transactions form the backbone of many peaceful transactions in the gun community. Countless people of all backgrounds can acquire their firearms through more private means. Make no mistake about it, efforts to shut down private firearms transactions are just another scheme to destroy gun rights in the US.
To ensure the preservation of the right to bear arms, we must not let Gun Control, Inc. continue to gain ground when it comes to imposing additional gun control on lawful Americans.
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Contact him via Facebook, Twitter, or email him at [email protected]. Get his e-book, The 10 Myths of Gun Control, here. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter here.