GOA Secures Preliminary Injunction Against ATF’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule

The limitations of the preliminary injunction underscore why it’s important for gun owners to support their gun rights advocacy groups, both at the national and state level. Links to many of the largest groups can be found on our home page.

“This is a massive victory for our members, and it comes at a crucial time. Before the rule even took effect, the ATF was involved in an early morning raid in Arkansas on a citizen’s home who was accused of not abiding by these rules, and ultimately, he ended up being killed. This Administration’s ceaseless aggression towards gun owners has already turned deadly, and the enforcement of this rule would have inevitably led to more unnecessary bloodshed. GOA and our valued partners will continue to fight back against this lawless and tyrannical administration,” said Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, in a statement on their website.

Judge Kacsmaryk’s reasoning for issuing the preliminary injunction pointed out the many intentional pitfalls inherent in the ATF rule:

Other Plaintiffs face both civil and criminal enforcement actions for engaging in conduct that the BSCA permits but the Final Rule impermissibly forbids. They cannot engage in lawful, noncommercial conduct without fear of prosecution. They cannot collect firearms for personal defense while enjoying statutory protection. Nor can they dispose of firearms from their personal collections for fear of being presumed ‘engaged in the business.’ ECF No. 16 at 43. And Plaintiffs’ monetary costs — as well as those accrued by persons seeking licensure to avoid liability — ‘are unrecoverable because of the government–defendant’s sovereign immunity from monetary damages.’

As has been previously pointed out, under the rule, even the sale of one firearm could place a person into a category of a “firearms” dealer, with stiff criminal penalties for conducting what used to be a constitutionally protected activity.