WASHINGTON — Thousands of firearms dealers in the U.S. will be required to conduct background checks on buyers when selling at gun shows or other places outside brick-and-mortar stores, under a Biden administration rule that will take effect soon.
The rule aims to close a loophole that allows tens of thousands of guns to be sold each year by unlicensed dealers who do not conduct background checks to ensure the potential buyer is not legally prohibited from owning a firearm.
It’s the administration’s latest effort to combat the scourge of gun violence across the country. But in a contentious election year, it’s also an attempt to show voters — especially young people for whom gun violence resonates deeply — that the White House is trying to stop the deaths.
“This will keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and criminals,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “And my government will continue to do everything it can to save lives. Congress must finish the job and pass universal background checks legislation now.”
The rule, finalized this week, makes it clear that anyone who sells firearms primarily to make a profit must obtain a federal license and complete background checks, regardless of whether he or she sells over the Internet, at a gun show or in a brick-and-mortar store. mortar shop, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters.
Biden has made curbing gun violence a key part of his administration and re-election campaign, creating the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and urging Congress to ban so-called assault weapons — something Democrats even recoiled from it just a few years ago. .
But the rule is certain to draw criticism from gun rights advocates who say the Democratic president has unfairly and unlawfully targeted gun owners.
The Biden administration first proposed the rule in August after passing the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades, a bipartisan compromise in response to the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
That law expanded the definition of those “engaged in the sale of firearms” who must obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and therefore complete background checks. The rule, which implements the change in law, will become effective 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
There are already approximately 80,000 federally licensed firearms dealers. Administration officials believe the new rule will impact more than 20,000 dealers who have gotten away with selling unlicensed firearms and conducting background checks at gun shows and over the Internet, for example, by claiming they are not “involved with the sale” of firearms. .
“This final rule does not violate anyone’s Second Amendment rights, and will not negatively impact our country’s many law-abiding licensed firearms dealers,” said ATF Director Steve Dettelbach. “They already follow the rules.”
It comes a week after the ATF released new data showing that more than 68,000 illegally trafficked firearms in the US come from unlicensed dealers, who are not required to conduct background checks for a period of five years. The ATF report also found that guns trafficked through illegal dealers were used in nearly 370 shootings between 2017 and 2021.
Gun control advocates have hailed the regulations as a major step toward their goal of universal background checks for gun buyers — a Democratic priority that has been blocked by Republicans in Congress.
“Expanding background checks and closing the gun seller loophole is a huge victory for safer communities – and was made possible thanks to the tireless advocacy of our grassroots movement,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action, in an email. rack.
But the rule will likely be challenged in court by gun rights activists, who have previously sued over other ATF rule changes that they say infringe on gun rights. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group, previously warned of a lawsuit if the rule were made final as written.
Biden administration officials said they are confident the rule — which drew more than 380,000 public comments — could withstand legal challenges.