Ashley Moody challenges Biden’s new firearm regulations as ‘federal overreach’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody initiated legal action against the Biden administration’s recently implemented firearm sale rule, which she sees as an “unnecessary burden” on the Second Amendment rights of Floridians.
“This is Biden’s latest step in trying to take guns away from law-abiding Americans,” Moody said.
Moody is battling Biden administration’s efforts to impose what she views as an attempt to “wrongfully regulate gun owners.”
Under federal law, a distinction has long existed between licensed firearms dealers and private individuals engaging in lawful, private sales—a right protected by the Constitution.
However, a recent move by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, prompted by the Biden administration, has introduced a new regulation.
The rule mandates that citizens must now register as dealers and navigate a bureaucratic process to engage in the act of buying, selling, or trading firearms with acquaintances.
Moody contended that the new rule unfairly imposes bureaucratic hurdles and financial obligations on law-abiding citizens.
While the Biden administration characterizes these measures as clarifications to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Moody’s lawsuit disputes this assertion. She argued that any regulation aiming to steer U.S. policy in a specific direction is “by definition, not merely ‘clarifying’ a statute.”
“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,” Moody said. “It’s unlawful and reflects a lack of respect for our second amendment rights. We won’t stand for it.”
The challenged rule, in fact, 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. In the first instance, 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.
