Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Proposes Unclear New Rule Restricting Private Manufactured Firearms

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Proposes Unclear New Rule Banning ‘Ghost Guns,’ Redefining ‘Firearms’
by Jordan Michaels on May 11, 2021

Just 30 days after President Joe Biden ordered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to write a rule banning so-called “ghost guns,” the ATF has complied.

The proposed rule bans the direct sale of build-it-yourself 80-percent receiver kits, but it also attempts to redefine the term “firearm” to account for split-receiver rifles like the AR-15 and AK-47. In addition, the agency offers (supposed) guidelines for how companies can determine when a piece of metal counts as a “firearm.”

Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, none of the regulations offer much real clarification to consumers or manufacturers, and all proposed rules give the ATF latitude to redefine their terms to account for “future changes in firearms technology or terminology.”

“To reflect existing case law, this proposed rule would add a sentence at the end of the definition of ‘firearm’ in providing that ‘[t]he term shall include a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be assembled, completed, converted, or restored to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive,’” the announcement of the proposed rule states.

While likely to be challenged in court if approved, this addition to the definition of “firearm” would all but eliminate easy access to build-it-yourself kits from companies like Polymer80. Such kits would still be available (assuming the companies stay in business) but would be sold and regulated like any other firearm.

Gun-rights groups have blasted the proposed rule, arguing that it would give the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms near-unlimited power to regulate firearms and firearm accessories.

Read more at: https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/...-rule-banning-ghost-guns-redefining-firearms/