NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee’s Attorney General is joining 26 state leaders across the country to fight a proposed rule that they say violates the Second Amendment.
The newly proposed rule is from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It risks making any individual who sells a firearm for profit liable to civil, administrative, and even criminal penalties for failing to register with a federal agency.
Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti says this regulation will burden law-abiding citizens while having no meaningful impact on violent criminals. He and other lawmakers sent a letter arguing that the right to sell guns without significant federal-government licensing and oversight is protected by the Second Amendment.
They're pushing that the bureau focus on enforcing laws that are already on the books to hold violent criminals accountable for their actions instead of creating a new law. This comes after the notice of proposed rulemaking brought up the need to clarify when a person is "engaged in the business" as a dealer in firearms at wholesale or retail.
The public letter claims that the rule doesn’t clearly define profit, and that it presumes individual sellers are firearms dealers even if the individual only sells one gun.
These 27 lawmakers are demanding that the bureau drop the rule altogether. There was a 90-day period where people could offer comment. It closed Thursday, December 7th.
The ATF has not responded to the letter.
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-Bree Smith
