Comment on FR Doc # 2026-09156

I am submitting this comment regarding the proposed rule to revise definitions of “adjudicated as a mental defective” and “committed to a mental institution.” While this proposal is a necessary step toward regulatory clarity, it remains a narrow fix for a broader systemic issue. The ATF’s current regulatory apparatus is currently being reviewed under the mandate of Executive Order 14206 ("Protecting Second Amendment Rights"), which directs federal agencies to dismantle policies that infringe upon the Second Amendment. Under the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the government lacks the authority to enforce firearm restrictions that are inconsistent with this nation's historical tradition. The current regulatory environment—which utilizes broad, categorical labels to disarm individuals—is an administrative overreach that has no historical analogue. I strongly urge the ATF to use this reform process to address the following: 1. Individualized Determination over Categorical Bans: The "prohibited person" status, particularly regarding § 922(g) blanket felon bans, is applied without a contemporaneous, individualized judicial finding of dangerousness. In a post-Bruen landscape, a statute that strips a fundamental constitutional right based solely on a historical conviction—without a judge specifically adjudicating the individual’s current threat to public safety—is unconstitutional. 2. Implementation of Executive Order 14206: President Trump’s Executive Order 14206 empowers and directs this agency to reverse decades of anti-Second Amendment tyranny. The ATF must stop deferring to the "interest-balancing" of the past and instead embrace the strict text-and-history standard required by the Supreme Court. 3. Restoration of Rights: For too long, the statutory prohibition on funding for 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) (Relief from Disabilities) has been used as an excuse to deny citizens a path to regain their rights. I plead with the ATF and the Department of Justice to work in tandem with the Office of the Pardon Attorney to provide a clear, robust, and accessible process for citizens to prove their non-dangerousness and reclaim their Second Amendment rights. The administrative state has spent decades treating the right to keep and bear arms as a privilege to be managed rather than a protected liberty. This administration now has the power and the mandate to reverse this course. I urge the ATF to seize this opportunity to prioritize individual constitutional rights over bureaucratic convenience and to move toward an enforcement model that respects the rights of every law-abiding American.