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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured an injunction halting a new rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) of the U.S. Department of Justice that unlawfully sought to abridge Americans’ constitutional right to privately buy and sell firearms.
On May 1, 2024, Attorney General Paxton led a multistate coalition to sue the ATF over the unlawful regulation that would have subjected hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for engaging in the constitutionally protected activity of privately selling firearms. This rule went beyond the authority granted to the agency by Congress and represented a flagrant violation of the Second Amendment. On May 19, Attorney General Paxton obtained a temporary restraining order that temporarily stopped the rule from taking effect.
Now, the court has issued an injunction against the rule that prevents enforcement in all states party to the lawsuit. The injunction order identified that the ATF rule likely violated federal law by “requiring that firearms owners prove innocence rather than the government prove guilt” which could “trigger civil or criminal penalties for conduct deemed lawful just yesterday.”
“Texas has secured an injunction against Biden’s unlawful ATF rule that would criminalize the private sale of guns. Biden’s unconstitutional rule cannot be enforced in Texas,” said Attorney General Paxton. “I’m proud to fight and win for our Second Amendment rights.”