The Biden administration is pushing back on federal background checks in recent decades with the aim of regulating the rapidly growing shadow market for weapons sold online, at gun shows and through private sellers, which contributes to gun violence. approved the most extensive expansion.
Under rules announced Thursday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will require those “engaged in the business” of selling guns for profit to register as federally licensed firearms dealers. oblige. This means these sellers must perform background criminal and mental health checks on potential buyers.
This new regulation is likely to face legal challenges and could add up to 23,000 federal dealers to the 80,000 already regulated by ATF. . ATF is a cash-strapped arm of the Justice Department that already struggles to monitor sellers.
The rule received more than 380,000 public comments and will go into effect within a month.
President Biden has repeatedly been blocked from enacting universal background checks by Republicans in Congress, but he hopes to use the provisions of a broad bipartisan gun control law passed in 2022 to build broad public support. The government is trying to achieve an elusive policy goal: closing the so-called gun show loophole.
Expanding the number of federal firearms licenses was one of several gun control measures included in Biden's March 2023 executive order in response to multiple mass shootings.
Unlicensed private sellers in many states are selling gun shows from their homes through online platforms without following background check systems created to prevent sales to children, criminals, domestic abusers, and people with mental illness. could be sold legally. or drug addiction.
A gun trafficking analysis released last week found that 4 out of 10 illegal firearms cases tracked by the bureau from 2017 to 2021 involved such unregulated sales, including background checks. This includes thousands of guns sold by shadowy dealers who exploited loopholes in the law to circumvent the law.
Officials say the purpose of the new rule is two-fold. First, it brings legal dealers into the regulatory sunlight; second, it strips brokers who knowingly sell criminal guns of the capricious legal shield of federal firearms law.
Previously, dealers were only required to participate in the federal system if their primary occupation was selling weapons. Now, the bar is much lower, with the government only having to prove that they sold the guns “primarily to profit” from the act.
Failure to register is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been nominated to lead the White House's efforts on a range of politically charged election-year issues, including gun policy, told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that the new regulations will improve federal background checks. “It will address one of the biggest gaps,” he said. system.
“This single gap in the federal background check system is causing unimaginable pain and suffering,” Harris said, noting that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children. .
“I believe these new rules will save countless families and communities from the horror and heartbreak of gun violence in the years to come,” she said.
ATF Director Steven M. Dettelbach struck a similar tone. “This is not just about the rule of law, it's about protecting the lives of innocent, law-abiding Americans,” he said.
Mr. Dettelbach, the first Senate-confirmed permanent director in nearly a decade, has overseen a series of more modest regulatory efforts, including efforts to control deadly homemade firearms known as ghost guns.
The administration believes its foundation is strong because the new regulations are rooted in newly passed legislation rather than a novel interpretation of existing law. However, there is a high possibility that this will lead to a legal battle.
Gun Owners of America, a group that has opposed Biden's gun control efforts after the preliminary rules were released last year, said: Called the regulation a “backdoor” universal background check. He then clarified that his “lawyers are preparing a lawsuit.”
The announcement marks an effort by the administration to find workarounds to deliver on policy promises to key constituencies, such as young voters and communities of color, on issues such as gun violence as Biden's priorities diverge. This was carried out in the midst of efforts to strengthen the meeting.
The gun control bill, one of the government's most important policy achievements, provided the government with several tools to combat the flood of illegal firearms.
Most important, officials said, are new drug trafficking charges that are beginning to be used in gun cases across the country. Stronger background check rules have helped the Justice Department stop more than 600 illegal gun purchases by people under 21, and third-party buyers account for about 40% of illegal gun cases brought by federal prosecutors. We were also able to prevent people from purchasing straws.
Many guns used in crimes are purchased through the black market, and increasingly through online marketplaces such as Armslist, the firearms Craigslist that matches buyers and sellers.
In October 2022, a 19-year-old boy with a history of mental health issues was denied possession of an AR-15-style rifle at a federally licensed dealership near St. Louis. Shortly after, he purchased a weapon via Armslist (no background check this time) and used it to kill two people and injure several others.