[Kansas Senator Roger] Marshall and his colleagues further warn the rule will “circumvent the U.S. Congress” by working around passed and signed gun-control legislation with “administrative action,” according to the letter.
“The administration has stated its intent to ‘move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.’ But Congress has not authorized universal background checks, and the administration does not have the authority to impose this policy unilaterally,” the letter read. …
The senators argued that the proposal misinterprets the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act’s language in order to place firearm purchases under the ATF’s purview. Notably, the rule ignores the legislation’s exemption for a person who occasionally engages in firearm transactions from being labeled a firearms dealer.
“Make no mistake — Congress has not authorized the creation of a universal background check system, but that isn’t stopping anti-Second Amendment ATF bureaucrats from trying to create that power for themselves. Not on my watch,” Marshall told National Review in an emailed statement.
“These radical gun control activists are desperate to strip law-abiding gun owners of their rights. Democrats are weaponizing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and purposefully misinterpreting the bill’s language to desperately push their anti-gun agenda. Our Second Amendment rights are under attack,” he added. “The Biden Administration has openly admitted they plan to implement as much gun control as possible without congressional authorization, and with the New Mexico Governor’s recent ban on guns in Albuquerque, it has never been more urgent that we stand up for law-abiding gun owners and protect our Second Amendment rights.”
— David Zimmermann in GOP Senators Demand ‘Immediate Withdrawal’ of DOJ’s Proposed Gun-Control Regulation
