SPRINGFIELD, VA –-(Ammoland.com)- According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the new proposed rule on unfinished frames and receivers was developed due to “numerous requests from licensees seeking clarity on how [Privately Manufactured Firearms] may be accepted and recorded.” But a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Gun Owners of America (GOA) shows that reasoning to be false.
The ATF claimed that numerous federal firearms Licensees (FFL) contacted the Bureau and asked how to handle privately manufactured firearms (PMF) they take into inventory. The word numerous can mean many different things to different people. Some might consider numerous to be three or more. To others, it starts at a much bigger number such as 300. What can be agreed on by most logically honest people is that the number must be greater than one.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines numerous as: “consisting of great numbers of units or individuals.”
GOA wanted to see what the ATF considered “numerous requests,” so the gun-rights group filed a FOIA request with the government agency. The ATF answered the request by providing the requested documents to GOA’s lawyers.
The Numerous Requests Equaled a Giant Total of One (1) Request!
The response shows that the ATF received one request from one FFL sent to one Industry Operations Inspectors (IOI), about one PMF (privately manufactured firearm) in August of 2020. The ATF could not produce any other request from FFLs about PMFs!?
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This discrepancy leads to many questions. If there were “numerous requests,” then why didn’t the FOIA response contain them. The ATF either lied on the reasoning for the proposed rule change, or the ATF violated the law by not turning over all the documents that the agency legally must give to those that request them. The other possibility is that the ATF considers “numerous requests” to be one request. A distinct possibility considering past ATF decision-making, but that answer seems unlikely.
Most people do not believe that this letter inspired change. Most think that the ATF used the reasoning as an excuse to execute President Joe Biden’s gun control plan that has stalled in Congress.
If the ATF is to be believed, then the agency is changing a regulation that has been in place since 1968 over a single request from a single FFL asking about one firearm.
In April of 2021, the former Vice President issued an executive action instructing the ATF to look at regulations surrounding unfinished firearms and frames. President Biden gave the Bureau 30 days to unveil its plans for new proposed rules for what he calls “ghost guns.” The President also gave the Bureau 60 days to develop new proposed regulations surrounding pistol braces.
The ATF is using Chevron deference to change the rules and the definition of a firearm to include unfinished frames and receivers. The ATF listed the proposed rule on the Federal Register for public comment. The ATF read and cataloged the public comments. Just under 300,000 comments were received, with most opposing the rule change.
The regulations don’t appear to be imminent. The ATF started reaching out to FFLs and gunsmiths to gauge the impact on their business and figure out how long it would take to serialize all 80% kits in stock.
As for the so-called “numerous” requests, that number one more time was….ONE!
“Numerous Requests” Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request by Gun Owners of America
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 27 CFR Parts 447, 448, and 479 by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News on Scribd
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Mr. Crump, I posted this in your above linked article on this subject:
Questions: Do FFLs and gunsmiths HAVE to respond to these ‘requests for information’?
If they don’t ‘have to’ and don’t does the ATF have a way to track who did and did not comply? (fear factor)
Can the public get a list of which FFLs / gunsmiths were asked and which complied?
As a lawyer can you provide any guidance on that?
Thanks.
Again, Chevron deference is an administrative law principle, and federal agencies are NOT entitled to Chevron deference in matters of criminal law.
“it’s 70% bull shit.”
I believe you missed that by about 30%.
So when the next BATFE Director nominee shows up in front of a Senate confirmation hearing, they should be asked to define “assault weapon” (which the last guy flubbed big time) AND asked to define “numerous.”
I would think that someone asking to pull down a six figure tax payer funded salary should be able to handle that, don’t you?
I mean, its not like a well rounded vocabulary is ever going to be an important tool for anyone in government.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm
” But a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Gun Owners of America (GOA) shows that reasoning to be false.”
As false as the AFT being a Constitutionally authorized agency.
The atfe is a tyrannical, treasonous, criminal, unconstitutional government agency that daily disavows their oath to the people, the nation and the constitution. The atfe should be disbanded, arrested, prosecuted and jailed for their crimes including tyranny, treason, theft, assault, intimidation, threats, attempted murder, falsifying government documents and murder. I am sure they have committed more crimes but I am not trying to write a book. Maybe someone should do so. This article shows them falsifying government documents. Why? Job justification. The atfe is an unconstitutional government agency that is being used by progressive, socialist, communist forces to destroy the… Read more »