Gun shops nationwide can breathe a sigh of relief with the news that the BATF has backed off Biden’s “Zero Tolerance” enforcement program. This program resulted in thousands of FFLs surrendering their licenses and hundreds more revoked over trivial paperwork errors.
From the Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) under President Biden has reversed a policy that required inspectors to revoke the federal firearms license (“FFL”) of American gun stores over simple paperwork errors and other non-willful violations of the Gun Control Act.
Together with the Texas Public Policy Foundation and America First Legal, Austin gun store owner Michael Cargill had sued the ATF over the “zero tolerance” approach. The Biden approach was illegal under the Gun Control Act, which only allows revocation for “willful” violations, and the Second Amendment, which protects the rights of Americans not only to own guns, but to purchase them, as well.
The new enforcement guidance reinstates the decades-long understanding that an honest mistake – like writing “USA” in the field for “county” on a background check form – is not a willful violation of federal law. “For purposes of the regulatory provisions of the GCA, the terms ‘willful’ and ‘willfulness’ mean a purposeful disregard of, a plain indifference to, or a reckless disregard of a known legal obligation. Willfulness requires fact specific application of law,” says the new guidance.
Crucially, it also adds that “Not every repeat violation is per se willful. A single, or even a few, inadvertent errors in failing to complete forms may not amount to ‘willful’ failures even where the legal requirement to complete the forms was known.”
In light of his victory, Cargill has filed an unopposed motion to voluntarily dismiss the case, without prejudice, with the trial court.
“The Biden Administration’s zero tolerance approach to paperwork errors has been devastating to businesses. Many gun stores have been forced to close due to the illegal terms of the old enforcement order,” said Matt Miller, senior attorney at TPPF and lead attorney on the case. “The new order effectively restores the old enforcement guidance, which means gun stores don’t have to live in fear of honest mistakes.”
“Freedom wins today, and overreach has no place in a free society,” said plaintiff Michael Cargill. “Faced with defeat, the ATF decided to back down. With that my legal team has shielded all mom-and-pop gun stores in the country.”
“It’s encouraging to see the Biden Administration correct its policy after we filed this lawsuit,” said TPPF attorney Clayton Calvin. “The previous policy as written would’ve resulted in such a significant barrier to firearm access it would’ve impeded the right to bear arms.”
“The ATF seems to have looked at our lawsuit and revised its incorrect application of federal law just as the Court was about to decide this case, and I suspect it would not have gone well for the Biden Administration. This type of lawlessness cannot be permitted. The Biden Administration knew it wasn’t applying the law faithfully, and now that it is on its way out of office — after harming hundreds of FFL license holders, it changed course. This is intolerable to a society based on the rule of law,” said America First Legal counsel Nicholas Barry.
To read the unopposed motion to dismiss the case, click here.
For additional background on the case, click here.
To watch TPPF’s explainer video on the case, click here.
An epiphany with only four days to go.