GOP-Led States File Motion to Block New ATF Gun Owner Rule Set to Take Effect This Month

Four Republican-led states have filed a motion with a court in Texas seeking to prevent a controversial new rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from going into effect. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Utah filed the motion in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas on May 9 calling on the court to block the new rule redefining who is “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms. The rule, which was submitted by the ATF in April, is set to go into effect on May 20. “Although purporting to update federal regulations to align with recently amended federal firearms statutes, the regulations promulgated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) of the U.S. Department of Justice on April 19, 2024, entitled ‘Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms’ go far beyond the subtle change Congress made to the law,” the states wrote in their filing with the court....