Biden Administration Releases New Rules for Gun Dealers

The Biden Administration announced new regulations surrounding the transfer of firearms today. In effect, anyone who wants to sell a gun will need to acquire a Federal Firearms License (FFL) from the ATF. While the government says that this new rule will help stem the tide of guns used in crimes, gun owners nationwide are crying foul.

Here’s how the new rule breaks down, and how it could apply to you.

A New Definition of a “Gun Dealer”

On April 11, the Biden-Harris administration released a briefing detailing a new Department of Justice Final Rule for background checks.

The main gist of this rule is that the ATF is now formally changing the legal definition of a gun dealer. Under this definition, anyone who sells a gun to “predominantly earn a profit” now needs to be able to run their own background checks.

What exactly does it mean to “predominantly earn a profit” from selling a gun? The new Final Rule specifically states that anyone who posts ads trying to sell a firearm is trying to earn a profit from the sale.

This would mean that anyone who tries to sell a gun on Gunbroker now has to acquire an FFL. Same with anyone who rented a table at a gun show. The new law even applies to anyone who keeps records of their firearms and what they paid for them or sold them for. It pretty much covers anyone who wants to sell a gun for any reason.

What Does This New Rule Mean?

Previously, most states required anyone who wanted to sell a gun privately to run a background check through an established FFL. This meant that someone selling a gun would walk into a gun store with the person buying the gun. The gun store would run a background check on the buyer, and if they passed the check, the transaction could proceed.

The new rule gets rid of this possibility.

In practice, this new rule means anyone who wants to sell a gun must have an FFL. That’s not an easy process. To acquire an FFL from the ATF, an individual needs to go through multiple rounds of interviews with the ATF. Licenses can cost up to $3,000, too.

That’s not even considering the state-level hoops some prospective FFLs need to jump through. Colorado, for instance, is considering legislation that would require FFLs to receive state approval in addition to getting the thumbs-up from the ATF. California keeps separate registries for gun dealers and manufacturers.

That’s all a long-winded way to say that this new Final Rule is going to be a huge issue for anyone who wants to privately sell a gun.

Final Thoughts

I recently wrote about a new ATF report that found most guns used in crimes don’t originate from FFLs. I closed out that article by saying I was optimistic that this would lead to more solutions-oriented approaches to gun crime. This new rule is pretty much the opposite of what I was hoping for.

There’s a chance that this new law may get struck down. The last time that the ATF issued a Final Rule like this was to reclassify pistol braces as stocks in 2022. However, that rule was challenged in court, and it’s currently stuck in legal limbo. That could be this proposed regulation’s fate, too.