Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that he has joined a coalition of twenty other states in filing a lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) over its new rule that could potentially impact the ability of gun owners to privately buy and sell firearms.
“When out-of-touch D.C. elites target Missourians’ Second Amendment rights, I will always take action to protect those liberties,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The Framers enshrined the right to keep and bear arms into the Constitution with the promise that those rights shall not be infringed. As a gun owner myself, I will use every legal tool at my disposal to fight government overreach.”
The controversial rule mandates that law-abiding citizens apply for and receive a federal firearms dealer license whenever they sell a firearm for “profit.” According to the ATF, “profit” can include transactions involving cash, trading for another firearm, or receiving a service. This could potentially criminalize ordinary Americans, such as those selling a gun to a relative or trading a rifle with a hunting partner.
Previously, only individuals who repetitively purchased and sold firearms as a regular course of business were required to become licensed dealers. “This rule would put innocent firearm sales between law-abiding friends and family members within reach of federal regulation. Such sales would constitute a felony if the seller did not obtain a federal firearms license and conduct a background check,” the attorney general stated in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit argues that the rule is unconstitutional because it violates the Second Amendment and bypasses congressional authority.
In addition to Missouri, the states of Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming have joined the filing. The states are requesting the court to delay the implementation of the rule and to declare it a violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The full text of the lawsuit can be viewed here.
