KANSAS (KSNT) - A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule change that requires individuals to have background checks and federal firearms licenses before selling firearms for a profit took effect on Monday.
Firearm owners are waiting to see if U.S. District Judge James Moody will place a temporary injunction on the ATF's rule change. The White House is touting the rule change as the only significant expansion of background check requirements since 1993.
27 News has contacted the ATF and is awaiting clarification on whether the rule change is currently active for Kansas. According to the Federal Register website, the rule is already in effect.
“I’ve spent hours with families who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence," President Joe Biden said in a written statement. "They all have the same message: ‘Do something.’ Today, my Administration is taking action to make sure fewer guns are sold without background checks."
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach joined 26 other Republican attorneys general in a lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Arkansas challenging the ATF rule change that would broaden the definition of a person "engaged in business" as a firearms dealer.
"In the last three years, Mr. Biden’s ATF has revoked the licenses of an unprecedented number of gun stores across the country for what amount to paperwork errors," Kobach said in a Washington Times op-ed. "Eight of them are in my state of Kansas. What in the past would have resulted in a friendly phone call and updated paperwork now results in the ATF shutting down the store."
On May 20, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk from Texas blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the rule change with a temporary restraining order (TRO). According to Kansas State Rifle Association Executive Director Moriah Day, the TRO only protects firearm owners who are members of Gun Owners of America and who live in Texas and Tennessee. The TRO lasts until June 2.
“Plaintiffs understandably fear that these presumptions will trigger civil or criminal penalties for conduct deemed lawful just yesterday,” Kacsmaryk said in his ruling.
Day said plaintiffs in the Kansas-led case filed in Arkansas have informed Judge Moody of the TRO ruling in Texas. Day said the action from Texas could be a factor in Moody's decision.
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