ATF faces lawsuit over gun license policy.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Faces Lawsuit Over Firearm Commerce Regulation
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is being sued by Gun Owners of America (GOA), along with North Dakota gun store Morehouse Enterprises and Bridge City Ordnance. The lawsuit aims to challenge the ATF’s federal firearms license inspection guidelines, which have the potential to shut down gun stores.
Biden Administration’s Plan to Combat Gun Violence Includes Stricter Regulations
President Joe Biden’s administration has unveiled a comprehensive plan to address gun violence in America. As part of this plan, the Justice Department has introduced a new policy that requires the ATF to revoke the licenses of dealers who violate federal law for the first time.
In 2021, the Biden administration outlined specific violations that could lead to the revocation of a firearm dealer’s license. These include willfully selling firearms to prohibited individuals, failing to conduct background checks, falsifying records, refusing to respond to ATF tracing requests, or denying ATF inspections related to violations.
Last year, the ATF issued a revised order that established “zero tolerance” guidelines for gun stores that willfully disregard public safety and fail to comply with regulations.
Controversy Surrounding ATF’s Use of Computer Algorithms
The lawsuit argues that the ATF’s determination of “willfulness” in revoking a Federal Firearms License (FFL) is now based on computer algorithms rather than human judgment. According to the lawsuit, this means that willfulness is determined solely by the category of record-keeping violations discovered and inputted into the computer system, without considering individual circumstances or human judgment.
Morehouse Enterprises previously filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging the ATF’s ghost gun rule, which aims to restrict the production of firearms that are difficult to trace. Following the lawsuit, the ATF conducted an investigation into Morehouse’s gun store license and found multiple violations, as stated in the 2022 lawsuit.
“Shortly after that lawsuit was filed, Bridge City Ordnance (BCO) underwent an administrative compliance inspection by the ATF in February 2023. This was the first compliance inspection ever conducted by the ATF regarding either of the BCO licenses,” the new lawsuit states.
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