An ATF rule imposed by the Biden administration that broadened the agency’s definition of a “frame” or “receiver” to include partially manufactured firearm frames and receivers has been ruled invalid by a federal judge in Texas.
The rule, which took effect in 2022, was aimed at stopping the production of privately manufactured firearms. In particular, the ATF under Biden appointee Steve Dettelbach, took aim at “buy, build, shoot” kits which were sold with a partially manufactured frame and all the other parts necessary to build a handgun. With the Biden-era rule, even those partially finished frames and receivers would have to be serialized and were treated as firearms under federal law, requiring buyers to go through a background check when purchasing them at retail.
A district court previously ruled against the ATF in Vanderstok v. Garland and that judgment was affirmed by the Fifth Circuit, but the Supreme Court vacated the decision and remanded the case back down to the lower courts. Now the district court has once again found in favor of the plaintiffs after determining the rule constitutes a violation of the Second Amendment.
Judge Reed O’Connor concluded that manufacturing firearms is covered by the plain text of the Constitution, which meant the ATF had to justify the final rule by pointing to historical analogues. The ATF pointed to 18th century barrel-proofing laws and laws mandating the storage of gunpowder, but O’Connor rightfully determined that those laws were imposed for very different reasons than the ATF’s rule. The 18th century laws were meant to prevent defective firearms from being sold, and to prevent fires and explosions from improperly stored gunpowder. The ATF’s “frame and receiver” rule, on the other hand, was aimed at preventing criminal misuse of firearms.
From O’Connor’s opinion:
The Final Rule does not merely lack supporting analogues. It contradicts the actual historical tradition of personal gunsmithing. Self-manufacture of firearms in America was common and indeed foundational to establishing our Nation. Americans throughout our history have continued to build their own arms and that “right [has] remained unregulated throughout [much of] American history.
… “Regulations on self-built arms are not longstanding.In fact, there were no restrictions on the manufacture of arms for personal use in America during the seventeenth, eighteenth, or nineteenth centuries.” Thus, the Court cannot conclude that the Final Rule’s imposition of ambiguous and far-reaching regulations, which would restrict access to component parts thereby inhibiting home gunsmithing, comports with the SecondAmendment.
O’Connor extensively cited NRA-ILA attorney Joseph Greenlee’s 2023 article “The American Tradition of Self-Made Arms” in his decision, including a brief history of the importance of self-made firearms in the Revolutionary and Founding eras.
As we recently saw in the Jensen/Silencer Shop cases, while the judge granted an injunction, it does not apply universally. Instead, O’Connor determined that the ATF cannot enforce 27 C.F.R. § 478.11 and 27 C.F.R. § 478.12(c) against Defense Distributed, Second Amendment Foundation, or any of SAF’s current or future members with respect to Defense Distributed’s M1911 80 percent Frames and G80 Build Kit, Unfinished Receiver, and Grip Module.
Unlike the Jensen/Silencer Shop injunction, though, O’Connor didn’t stay his decision to allow the DOJ time to appeal. It appears that the injunction is now in place, though the Trump administration still has two months to file an appeal with the Fifth Circuit. Once again, the big question is whether DOJ/ATF will actually take that step, and if not, will they take the necessary steps to rescind the rule entirely?
O’Connor’s ruling is very important from the standpoint of recognizing our right to build our own firearms without government interference, and his decision is an important victory for the plaintiffs. Whether or not it will impact 80 percent frames and receivers beyond the Defense Distributed products and gun owners beyond SAF members, however, remains to be seen.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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