Comment on FR Doc # 2026-08919
E GriffinOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter, identifying as a private firearm collector, opposes the proposed rule because it preserves legal theories they believe were already rejected by the courts. They argue that the rule still allows for the prosecution of individuals for routine personal activities and urge the ATF to rescind the framework entirely in favor of a rule that follows plain statutory language.
I oppose this proposed rule as written and urge ATF to rescind the Biden "Engaged in the Business" framework in its entirety rather than issuing a partial replacement that preserves the same legal theories a federal court already rejected in Texas v. ATF. I am a collector who occasionally sells or trades firearms from my personal collection. Under ATF's surviving enforcement framework, maintaining a list of my guns, reselling a model, or listing a firearm for sale can still be used as evidence against me — even though I am not a dealer and have never acted as one. Rescinding this also protects my family from prosecution when the time comes to dispose of my collection. Specifically, I urge ATF to: (1) rescind all retained sections of the 2024 Biden rule, including any provisions allowing routine personal collection activities to be used as evidence of unlicensed dealing; (2) eliminate the assertion that intent alone is sufficient to establish unlicensed dealing, a theory the Texas court rejected; (3) issue a new rule that follows the plain statutory language of federal law and the limits Congress imposed; and (4) clearly reject all legal theories already vacated by federal courts. A rule that survives in fragments still threatens the same law-abiding Americans it targeted from the start. RIN 1140-AB01.