A group of 30 Senators has sent a letter to the acting Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) head, Marvin Richardson, demanding that the Bureau stop exceeding its power.

Senator John Cornyn and 29 colleagues sent the letter after President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigate Second Amendment abuses by the ATF. Mr. Cornyn has been heavily criticized in the past by gun owners for teaming with Democrats and passing the Bi-partisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which was a gun control bill. Many wonder if he is trying to buy goodwill with the gun community or if he is actually concerned with ATF overreach.

The letter reads: “Under former President Joe Biden, ATF adopted numerous policies and rules that infringed upon Americans’ Second Amendment protections. President Trump’s Executive Order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to review and develop a plan of action regarding President Biden’s unlawful firearms regulations. We ask that you work with the Attorney General to quickly identify and rescind these policies. In particular, we call your attention to the following anti-Second Amendment regulations and policies, which must be immediately rescinded.”

BREAKING

30 Senators demand ATF rescind Biden infringements pursuant to Executive Order 14206, including:

Engaged in the Business Rule
Frame & Receiver Rule
Pistol Brace Rule
Zero Tolerance Policy

It also calls for the deletion of @ATFHQ‘s illegal gun registry. pic.twitter.com/tpRkxPzZpK

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) February 20, 2025

The first rule that the Senators want to be reversed is the “engaged in the business” rule. Under the Biden Administration, the ATF issued a rule that almost all firearms transfers require a federal firearm license (FFL). Even selling as little as a single gun could mean a person is “engaged in the business” in the eyes of the ATF. Many called this rule a thinly veiled attempt at backdoor universal background checks (UBC). UBCs was one of President Biden’s goals, but he was unsuccessful due to resistance in Congress. He used the rule-making process to accomplish his goals. Currently, there is a preliminary injunction against the rule.

The second rule under the Congressional microscope is the pistol brace rule. The ATF used the rule-making process to reclassify pistols equipped with a brace as short-barreled rifles (SBR). Gun owners would have to register their pistols with the ATF National Firearms Act (NFA) division and pay a $200 tax stamp. The rule reversed years of ATF opinions and affected millions of Americans. An injunction currently blocks the rule from being enforced.

The third rule is the so-called “ghost gun” rule. This rule reclassified what is considered a firearm and regulated certain parts of guns, such as unfinished frames, as firearms requiring a serial number to be sold. This move was meant to kill the privately made firearms (PMF) rule, but with advancements in 3D printing, the homemade firearms community has survived. The rule has been blocked at the Circuit Court level, although the United States Supreme Court placed that judgment on an administrative stay. SCOTUS has heard oral arguments in Vanderstok v. Garland, and the community is awaiting their opinion on the matter.

The Senators also ask the ATF to rescind its “zero-tolerance” policies. The ATF has used the policy to shut down FFLs nationwide for violations such as a simple clerical error. One Industry Operation Inspector (IOI) purportedly wrote that he loved shutting down gun shops on social media. The process was weaponized under the Biden administration to attack the firearms industry. Several cases are taking place nationwide, trying to block the policy.

The final action the letter demands the ATF do is destroy its illegal registry located at the Out of Business Office in Martinsburg, WV, during an investigation into Walmart turning over 1000s of ATF Form 4473s to the Bureau. AmmoLand was able to determine that these records were being digitized. Further inquiries from Congress revealed that the ATF had almost 1,000,000,000 records scanned.

Gun owners celebrated the action by Congress. Now, those same Americans must wait to see how the ATF responds.

About John Crump

Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.