Whistleblowers at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are saying that a 1300-page draft document has been written to justify a new rule that would require background checks on all gun sales.
"The fact that inside ATF sources are blowing the whistle on this draft rule is an indication of what a difficult position it would put the ATF in. ATF agents did not sign up to go after law-abiding citizens for private sales protected under the Second Amendment of the Constitution," Tristan Leavitt, president of the watchdog group Empower Oversight, said in a press release Wednesday.
The watchdog group sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and ATF Director Steven M. Dettelbach on Wednesday demanding documents about the whistleblower's claims. Empower Oversight says they learned through "two sources in the ATF that at the direction of the White House, the ATF has drafted a 1,300-page document in support of a rule that would effectively ban private sales of firearms from one citizen to another by requiring background checks for every sale."
"Such an expansive rule that treats all private citizens the same as federal firearms licensees would circumvent the separation of powers in the Constitution, which grants ‘all legislative Powers’ to Congress while requiring that the President ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.’ To the extent such a rule prevents the private sale of firearms, it would also clearly violate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares that "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,’" Leavitt wrote.
We've gotten used to the Biden administration playing fast and loose with the Constitution as they look for "workarounds" that undermine the rule of law. While background checks are legal, no one ever thought they would be universally applied.
The fact is, no matter what the Biden administration does to treat law-abiding citizens like criminals, bad people still get guns and use them against law-abiding citizens who now have to jump through more hoops to arm themselves.
Empower Oversight warns that if the rule were adopted, ATF agents would be placed in danger.
"The lessons of the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs should make clear that attempting to enforce such an expansive regulation could endanger countless ATF field agents who are forced to serve as the face of the Biden Administration in going after private firearms owners for constitutionally-protected firearms sales," the letter adds.
"Under current federal law, background checks are required only for sales by federally licensed dealers," writes Reason's Jacob Sullum. "A rule that the ATF proposed last September would expand the definition of 'dealer' to encompass some but not all occasional gun sellers. But even that controversial proposal does not go as far as the plan described by Empower America's sources."
The new ATF rule being pushed by the Biden administration would vastly expand the definition of "firearms seller" so that selling a firearm to a relative could ensnare you in a thicket of new regulations.
The rule is not final yet, and after these revelations, it will likely undergo big changes. But that doesn't excuse Biden's ATF from their clearly unconstitutional power grab.
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