AUSTIN – 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.
More at the article link.
