Comment on FR Doc # 2026-01141

I am writing to formally oppose the interim final rule (Docket No. ATF-2026-0034) attempting to redefine and salvage the enforcement of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3). This proposed rule is a blatant violation of the United States Constitution, ignores binding Supreme Court precedent, and defies the current administration's executive directives. I implore this agency to immediately withdraw this rule, correct course, and stop passing anti-Second Amendment regulations. 1. The Literal Text of the Second Amendment The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is not a second-class right subject to administrative tampering. The literal text states clearly that the right of the people to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed." The ATF’s attempt to continuously rewrite definitions to expand the scope of prohibited persons is a direct infringement on the rights of American citizens and operates outside the agency's constitutional authority. 2. Direct Conflict with Supreme Court Precedent: Heller, Bruen, Rahimi, and Hemani The ATF’s rulemaking completely ignores the binding legal framework established by the Supreme Court over the last two decades, culminating in the recent 2026 ruling that explicitly invalidated the core of this regulation. In District of Columbia v. Heller and NYSRPA v. Bruen, the Court made it clear that any modern firearm regulation must be deeply rooted in the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. In United States v. Rahimi, the Court clarified that disarmament is only constitutionally permissible when a person has been found to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of others. Most importantly, this proposal stands in direct defiance of the Supreme Court's landmark 9-0 decision in United States v. Hemani. In Hemani, the Supreme Court definitively struck down the government's ability to arbitrarily disarm citizens under § 922(g)(3) based on controlled substance use alone. This interim rule directly conflicts with Hemani in the following ways: Conflating Substance Use with Dangerousness: The ATF’s proposal attempts to skirt the Hemani ruling by creating an administrative checklist to redefine who is an "unlawful user." However, Hemani explicitly held that simply using a substance does not equate to active dangerousness or a credible threat of violence. The Court ruled that stripping an individual of their fundamental rights without demonstrating they are actively dangerous or incapacitated violates the Second Amendment. Lack of Historical Analogs: Hemani established that there is no historical American tradition of permanently disarming citizens for intoxication or substance use outside of temporary restrictions while actively impaired. By attempting to establish a multi-year or regulatory look-back period to strip citizens of their firearms, the ATF is fabricating a regulatory scheme that Hemani already determined has no constitutional foundation. The Necessity of Individual Adjudication: Hemani and Rahimi collectively reinforce that blanket bans under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) are unconstitutional when applied without individual adjudication of dangerousness by a court of law. An administrative dragnet that automatically strips millions of Americans of their rights via executive definitions, without an individualized judicial finding of violence or a threat to safety, directly violates the due process and Second Amendment standards reaffirmed in Hemani. 3. Defiance of Presidential Executive Orders In February 2025, President Trump signed the "Protecting Second Amendment Rights" Executive Order, explicitly directing the Department of Justice and the ATF to review and halt ongoing infringements on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. This executive order was a mandate to end the weaponization of regulatory agencies against gun owners. Instead of complying with this directive and stepping down enforcement of unconstitutional bans, the ATF is using this interim final rule to double down on anti-gun policies that the Supreme Court has already explicitly rejected. Conclusion The ATF cannot bypass the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the President of the United States by simply tweaking a regulatory definition to evade the Hemani decision. I implore the ATF to abandon this unconstitutional rulemaking, respect the literal text of the Second Amendment, and cease all regulatory efforts that infringe upon the rights of the American people without due process. Withdraw Docket No. ATF-2026-0034 immediately.