Submitted by United States Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana
WASHINGTON (May 16, 2024) – Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and 42 Republican senators introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to prevent the Biden administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from enforcing an anti-Second Amendment rule that would effectively require anyone who sells firearms to register as federal firearm licensees.
“The Biden administration is weaponizing every tool at its disposal against law-abiding gun-owners. Congress should vote to block Pres. Biden’s ATF from unconstitutionally creating new ways to strangle Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” said Kennedy.
The rule, titled “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” would functionally force anyone who sells firearms—even small, part-time collectors—to register as federal firearm licensees and conduct background checks on those who purchase from them.
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) is introducing the resolution in the House of Representatives.
“The ATF’s ‘engaged in the business’ rule represents President Biden’s latest attempt to institute universal background checks, advance the Left’s radical gun control agenda, and infringe on Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Private citizens simply shouldn’t be forced to jump through unelected, anti-gun bureaucrats’ unconstitutional hurdles to engage in lawful firearms transactions. I look forward to leading this critical CRA in the House, and I urge my colleagues in both chambers to support our measure to stop the Biden Administration’s tyranny in its tracks,” said Clyde.
Background
- In Feb. 2023, Kennedy joined Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and a bicameral group of Republican colleagues in urging Attorney General Merrick Garland and ATF Director Steven Dettelbach to explain the Biden administration’s unfair, zero-tolerance policies toward gun dealers.
- In Mar. 2023, Kennedy introduced a CRA resolution to prevent the Biden administration’s ATF from an enforcing an anti-Second Amendment pistol brace rule.
- In Mar. 2024, Kennedy secured a win for veterans that blocks the Biden administration’s Department of Veterans Affairs from unilaterally stripping veterans of their Second Amendment rights.
