On Sunday night, a federal judge granted a temporary block on a background check rule that was recently issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Attorney General Merrick Garland had announced this rule on April 10, stating that it was based on a bipartisan legislation passed after a tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The temporary restraining order was issued by United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, and it will remain in effect until June 2. This rule aimed to broaden the definition of individuals considered “engaged in business” as gun dealers, thereby increasing the number of people required to undergo background checks. In response to the rule, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and several other Republican state attorneys general filed a lawsuit on May 1 to prevent its enforcement.
🚨BREAKING: We Just Secured A Temporary Restraining Order Against Biden Administration, Stopping Unlawful ATF Rule from Taking Effect: I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect. The Biden Administration… https://t.co/h8by98RVb2
— Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) May 20, 2024
“I am relieved that we were able to secure a restraining order that will prevent this illegal rule from taking effect,” Paxton said in a press release. “The Biden Administration cannot unilaterally overturn Americans’ constitutional rights and nullify the Second Amendment.”
The Biden administration has implemented various firearm regulations after the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was enacted in June 2022 in response to the tragic shooting at Ross Elementary School in Uvalde. A coalition of states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming, have come together to challenge these regulations, as stated in a press release issued on May 1 by Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen of Montana.
Attorney General Ken Paxton Secures Temporary Restraining Order Against Biden Administration, Stopping Unlawful ATF Rule from Taking Effect: https://t.co/lg0gSTNrVG
— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) May 20, 2024
“President Biden and his anti-gun administration have aggressively pursued an agenda meant to harass, intimidate, and criminalize gun owners and dealers at every turn,” Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt said. “This ruling is a compelling rebuke of their tyrannical and unconstitutional actions that purposely misinterpreted federal law to ensure their preferred policy outcome.”
“We will continue the fight to ensure that this administration never succeeds in their goal of building a comprehensive database of firearm transaction records, which this rule would have been critical to accomplishing,” Pratt continued.
