Docket numbers: 2:24-cv-88 (E.D. Ark.); 6:24-cv-1086 (D. Kan.); 24-3101 (10th Cir.)
The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute (HLLI) filed a lawsuit over the Biden Administration’s new rule that restricts gun sales between private citizens.
HLLI represents Phillip Journey, a firearms collector and hobbyist and shooting sports coach and instructor, who joins twenty-one states in challenging the new rule as contrary to statutory authority, unconstitutional, and an arbitrary and capricious exercise of regulatory authority. This new rule, Definition of “Engaged in the Business” as a Dealer in Firearms, 89 Fed. Reg. 28,968 (Apr. 19, 2024), unlawfully requires anyone who sells even one firearm for “a profit” to get a federal firearms license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). HLLI and the States filed their complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
The Biden Administration’s new rule extends federal regulation to gun sales that were previously considered lawful and private. Until now, only those who repeatedly purchased and sold firearms as a regular part of their business needed an ATF license. After congressional investigations uncovered massive abuse in ATF’s enforcement of firearms laws, Congress passed legislation to protect law-abiding citizens’ purchases of firearms for personal collection. But, under the new rule, and in violation of this statutory authority, the ATF arguably requires that anyone selling one firearm, even to a friend or family member, obtain a firearm dealer’s license and, in turn, run a background check on every purchaser, or face criminal penalties. The new rule puts innocent firearms sales between law-abiding citizens within the reach of federal authorities. It also institutes near-universal background checks that Congress has rejected on multiple occasions.
On May 6, plaintiffs filed a motion asking the court to stay or preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the rule. The court agreed to expedite briefing, and a hearing on the motion will occur on May 17.
On May 23, 2024, the district court found that the State of Arkansas lacked standing and transferred the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
Judge Journey and the other plaintiffs have renewed their motion for preliminary injunction. A hearing on the motion occurred in Kansas City on July 1. The court denied their motion, and on July 19, 2024, plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. They filed their opening brief on September 19, 2024 and reply on December 18.
Judge Journey and the other plaintiffs also filed an amicus in a similar appeal pending in the Fifth Circuit on November 25.
Case Documents
| Description | |
| Dec 18, 2024 | REPLY BRIEF of States, Phillip Journey, et al. |
| Nov 25, 2024 | AMICUS BRIEF of State, Phillip Journey, et al. |
| Sep 19, 2024 | OPENING BRIEF of States, Phillip Journey, et al. |
| Jun 07, 2024 | RENEWED MEMORANDUM in Support of Preliminary Injunction |
| May 23, 2024 | OPINION AND ORDER Dismissing Arkansas and Transferring to Kansas |
| May 16, 2024 | REPLY by Plaintiffs in Support of Preliminary Injunction |
| May 07, 2024 | MOTION for Ohio to file Amicus Brief |
| May 06, 2024 | MOTION for Preliminary Injunction |
| May 06, 2024 | DECLARATION of Phillip Journey in Support of Preliminary Injunction |
| May 01, 2024 | COMPLAINT of States, Phillip Journey, et al. against ATF |