On June 11, 2024, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued a preliminary injunction against the ATF’s enforcement of its “engaged in business” rule. The preliminary injunction protects individuals in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, as well as the members of Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Tennessee Firearms Association or Virginia Citizens Defense League. Opinion, p.1 Significantly, individuals in Tennessee who are not members of one of those 4 organizations are not protected at this time from the ATF’s enforcement authority.
On April 19, 2024, the ATF issued a new “final rule” which it asserted was “to provide clarity to persons who remain unsure of whether they are engaged in the business as a dealer in firearms with the predominate intent of pecuniary gain.” Opinion, pp. 2-3. The ATF’s rule states that ““a single firearm transaction or offer to engage in a transaction” may require a license.” Opinion, p. 3.
The Tennessee Firearms Association welcomed the opportunity to join this litigation with these 4 states, 3 other organizations and the individual Plaintiff Jeffrey Tormey to challenge the ATF’s outrageous expansion of a definition that has existed in the federal laws for decades. However, as an “associational plaintiff”, TFA and the three other organizations were representing only the interests of their members. These entities joined the attorneys general of the four named states, which does not include the State of Tennessee, and on May 1, 2024, we filed a federal challenge to the ATF’s new rule. Judge Kacsmaryk initially granted a temporary restraining order which initially expired on June 2, 2024, but which was extended through June 16, 2024, after the Court directed the parties to file supplemental briefs.
The Court’s decision on June 11, 2024, grants a preliminary injunction. That is, it prohibits the ATF from enforcing the rule in the four named states, against the individual plaintiff or against any members of the 4 named organizations. Further, a preliminary injunction has no expiration date – it remains in force until the Court issues a subsequent order either making it permanent or dissolving it.
This is a substantial victory for residents of these four states, Mr. Tormey and members of these four organizations. At this time, members of Tennessee Firearms Association are protected but only because Tennessee Firearms Association made the choice to invest in this litigation and to accept the opportunity to be a party plaintiff on behalf of its members.
Tennessee Firearms Association has increasingly invested in the litigation opportunities over the last 5 years as it has become increasingly and frustratingly obvious that the Tennessee Legislature (under the complete control of individual who identify as Republicans), the Tennessee Governor (who also identifies as a Republican) and those Republican members of Congress have failed repeatedly to take specific and intentional action to restore our rights under the Second Amendment, particularly when those rights are intentionally infringed by local, state and federal agencies. You can help support this effort by joining Tennessee Firearms Association, renewing your membership if it has expired, making supplemental member donations that are necessary to help fund this litigation and/or making generous tax deductible donations to the Tennessee Firearms Foundation to help support that portion of its mission which includes public interest litigation.
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