A new rule on gun sales is set to go into effect on Monday, and former agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives predict chaos.
Former ATF agents say a new Biden administration rule to restrict certain gun sales will be near impossible to enforce consistently — and some worry it’s another instance of their agency being used for politics.
“You get marching orders from on high,” a retired special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told NOTUS. “‘Hey, we’re going to be concentrating on this type of crime because that’s what the administration wants.’”
“We are used politically at times,” he added. “For sure.”
The rule is set to go into effect on Monday, provided the courts do not block it based on lawsuits from more than 30 states. A judge will hear arguments on Friday on whether to block the rule in a suit led by Kansas.
The rule, which came out of a 2023 executive order by President Joe Biden and the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, is meant to close the “gun show loophole,” which allows sales to occur without background checks at gun shows. It requires individuals who repeatedly profit from firearm sales to obtain a federal firearm license and conduct background checks on people who buy their guns.
By Ben T.N. Mause