Congressional Republicans will introduce legislation to repeal the Biden administration’s latest regulation that expands federal background checks for gun purchases, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced the publication of a rule, “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” that extends the regime of federal background checks to the purchase of guns made at gun shows, via online websites and between private persons — claiming authority to do so from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) passed by Congress in 2022 following a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The rule has been staunchly opposed by congressional Republicans and gun rights groups, with Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina planning to introduce legislation to repeal the rule after it comes into effect, according to a statement provided exclusively to the DCNF.
“Sens. Cornyn and Tillis plan to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn this unconstitutional rule and already have other Senate Republicans signed on in support,” a spokesperson for Cornyn told the DCNF. “The administration is acting lawlessly here, and the vast majority of this rule has nothing to do with the BSCA. Of course, this rule has been on the administration’s wish list for many years despite Congress rejecting these provisions repeatedly.”
A companion bill will be introduced in the House of Representatives by Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, the DCNF also learned. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress to directly repeal federal regulations within the last 60 legislative days after they come into effect, with such resolutions being immune from Senate filibusters though still subject to a presidential veto.
While the DOJ explicitly cited the BSCA in their press release announcing the rule, Cornyn and Tillis disagreed that the rule could be based on provisions of that law.
“The vast majority of the ATF rule announced today is not based on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and any claim otherwise from the administration is an outright lie,” Cornyn and Tillis wrote in a statement to the DCNF. “This rule has long been on Democrats’ wish list, and for the Biden administration to say it’s a result of our school safety and mental health law is a shameless attempt to hide their real goal: to take away the firearms of every law-abiding American. We will fight this unconstitutional rule tooth and nail, and look forward to overturning it in the Senate as soon as possible.”
Gun rights groups have alleged that the rule’s expansion of the definition of “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms will effectively prevent private gun sales with new requirements, which carry criminal penalties for violation. “The ‘engaged in the business’ rule is designed to circumvent the U.S. Congress to criminalize, or give the appearance of criminalizing, the private transfer of firearms,” wrote the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Advocacy (NRA-ILA) in a statement about the rule.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
