Steve Marshall joins 25 other Attorney Generals to fight Joe Biden’s proposed gun rule
Twenty-six states sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday, arguing a new federal rule it’s implementing targets lawful gun owners and is unconstitutional and illegal. Texas and Kansas led two multi-state coalitions with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joining the Kansas coalition; Florida filed its own lawsuit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced their multi-state coalitions at a joint press conference in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday. The announcement was the first time Paxton has held a press conference about official state business since he was impeached last year. Paxton was the first Texas attorney general to be impeached in state history after 60 Texas House Republicans joined nearly all Democrats to vote to impeach him on 20 counts. He was acquitted by the Senate last September. The states sued the ATF and the Department of Justice and their effective heads over a new ATF rule the Biden administration finalized on April 19. The administration argues the rule is implementing aspects of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act spearheaded by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. President Joe Biden has called for Congress to enact so-called “universal background check” legislation, which would require every private firearms transaction to be regulated by the federal government. Congress, under Democratic and Republican leadership, has repeatedly declined to do so. For decades, federal law has distinguished between firearms dealers, who are required to have a federal license to sell firearms, and private individuals who are not required to have a license to purchase and sell firearms privately. Claiming the new law as the basis for the rule, the ATF measure would require thousands of law-abiding citizens to register as dealers to buy, sell or trade firearms with friends and neighbors. The Republican attorneys general argue the rule is unconstitutional and burdens citizens with unnecessary costs. The Texas coalition includes Louisiana, Missouri, and Utah. Their lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division. The Kansas coalition includes Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Their lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas Delta Division. Both lawsuits have gun owners included as plaintiffs. The Kansas coalition included newly re-elected NRA board member Judge Phil Journey. “Yet again, Joe Biden is weaponizing the federal bureaucracy to rip up the Constitution and destroy our citizens’ Second Amendment rights,” Paxton said. “This is a dramatic escalation of his tyrannical abuse of authority. With today’s lawsuit, it is my great honor to defend our Constitutionally-protected freedoms from the out-of-control federal government.” Kobach said, “Biden’s latest attempt to strip away the Second Amendment rights of Americans through ATF regulations will make many law-abiding gun owners felons if they sell a firearm or two to family or friends. This rule is blatantly unconstitutional. We are suing to defend the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.” In a separate statement, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said the rule was President Biden’s “latest step in trying to take guns away from law-abiding Americans. We are fighting back against this federal overreach that would force thousands of law-abiding gun owners to register as federal firearms dealers and navigate a federal bureaucracy. It’s unlawful and reflects a lack of respect for our Second Amendment rights. We won’t stand for it.” Florida sued in U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida Tampa Division. Its 16-page brief states the rule “goes far beyond the plain text of the BSCA. It purports to force thousands of law-abiding gun owners to register as federal firearms dealers and navigate a federal bureaucracy as a precondition to engaging in constitutionally protected activity. The challenged rule is unlawful…ATF does not have authority to promulgate it because ATF’s rulemaking authority is carefully circumscribed. But even if it did, the challenged rule unlawfully attempts to depart from the plain meaning of the BSCA to achieve President Biden’s policy goals.” All three lawsuits named the ATF, the Department of Justice, and their respective heads as defendants. They ask the courts to rule that the ATF rule is unlawful and to permanently enjoin the ATF from implementing it. This article was published with permission from The Center Square.
Alabama named top state for gun industry
A new analysis of the 50 states ranked Alabama the top spot in country for the gun industry. According to Zippia, a website that tracks career and industry data, southern states are the friendliest to the gun industry. “A general rule of thumb emerged from the data — head south if you are looking to get one of as many as 141,500 jobs generated by companies that make, distribute, and sell guns,” explained Chris Kolmar at Zippia. “Not to mention the the 159,623 jobs in ancillary industries.” Top ten states for the gun industry: Alabama Arkansas Georgia Idaho Arizona Florida Indiana Alaska Missouri Louisiana How the states were ranked Gun jobs. A composite of the raw number of gun jobs and per capita gun jobs from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, added to the number of licensed manufacturers from the ATF. State friendliness to manufacturers. The index took into consideration the number of states laws concerning gun manufacturers and dealers and each state’s percentage of federal excise taxes from the manufacture and sale of guns. States’ gun cultures. The percentage of homes with guns in each state, the total number of guns in each state, and guns per capita. We factored in the number of regulations on buying guns as well. Other factors. Factors such as whether a state mandated that manufacturers give employees breaks, if states are right-to-work, and average wages for employees. National look at gun friendly rankings
Bradley Byrne offers House amendment to rein in federal ATF bureau
U.S. Rep Bradley Byrne offered an amendment on Tuesday to the federal Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that would cut funding to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bureau (ATF), which Byrne says has grown out of control in recent years. The budget amendment — which would have cut the bureau’s budget by 20 percent, or about $250 million — was not adopted, but Byrne stood by his proposal and the underlying point it was intended to make. “Let me make one thing clear: I know that the ATF has an important mission to play in keeping our nation safe and regulating everything from firearms to alcohol,” said Byrne in a prepared statement, before outlining his objections to the agency’s well-publicized problems over recent years, including a rogue Mexican gunwalking operation dubbed “Fast and Furious” by critics. “That said, in the last few years we have seen an outrageous growth in operations and regulations coming out of the ATF,” the second-term congressman from Alabama’s 1st District wrote. “How could we forget the Fast and Furious gun trafficking scheme that was allowed to go so far off track that 2,000 guns were allowed to flow to Mexican drug-trafficking groups. Worst of all, a federal law enforcement officer was killed with a gun from the operation. “I am all for safety and responsible gun ownership, and the ATF does have a role to play in that, but this amendment would simply require ATF to return to its core functions and responsibilities. It would cause ATF to look at itself in the mirror, find areas where they can cut back, and refocus on their true priorities. “Ultimately, this amendment is about protecting our Second Amendment rights while also pushing for real reforms to federal spending, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.” See Byrne’s full remarks on his amendment below.
