December 5, 2023

Washington, D.C. — Today, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) filed public comments against the proposed rule from the Biden ATF which could require anyone who sells a single gun to register as a dealer and conduct background checks. The Tennessee Firearms Association and the Virginia Citizens Defense League joined in the brief.

As argued by GOA in the full comment, this rule is nothing more than an attempt to “subvert, circumvent, and effectively repeal” a major provision of the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, which bars federal agencies from maintaining records or a system of registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions.

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:      

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the ultimate goal of anti-gunners is to confiscate guns, which would require a comprehensive database of firearm owners. Under this rule, the private sale of firearms would now almost always require a background check, and because of GOA research, we know that the records of those sales will eventually end up in the hands of the ATF and be added to their illegal gun registry. This cannot stand.”   

Sam Paredes, on behalf of the Board for GOF, added:    

“Everyone who cherishes our Second Amendment rights must invest the short time it takes to share their views and condemn this rule. Courts hearing challenges to the rule will most definitely keep these comments in mind when weighing their decision.”   

Background: In 2022, a GOA FOIA request revealed that the ATF was illegally digitizing the paper Form 4473s in their possession, which document the transfer of a gun and include personally identifiable information of the customer in addition to the serial number of the firearm. This rule in question, in addition to a second new ATF rule to require FFL dealers keep all transaction records, are the two major pieces necessary to ensure a comprehensive registry gun can be compiled and maintained by the federal government.

Members of the public have until December 7th to file a comment in opposition to the rule, which can be easily done here.

GOA spokesmen are available for interviews.  Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

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