Kansas, Journey, et al. v. Garland et al. (ATF rule challenge)

Docket numbers: 2:24-cv-88 (E.D. Ark.); 6:24-cv-1086 (D. Kan.)

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.