The ATF proposed a new rule that redefines the term “sale” as it relates to requiring background checks for firearm transfers between private individuals.
The rule would require checks even if guns are traded through bartering or services instead of cash sales.
It aims to classify more private sellers as “engaged in the business” by counting bartering or services received as “pecuniary gain.”
The rule explicitly states it wants to clarify that background checks are needed if firearms are exchanged “where no money is exchanged.”
Critics argue this expands the instances where checks are mandated and could apply even to isolated non-commercial transfers between private citizens.
The Second Amendment Foundation head called it another attempt by the Biden administration to impose new gun control policies through executive action instead of congressional approval.
“This is a continuation of the Biden war on guns. It is another attempt to get around Congress to make new laws without congressional approval,” Second Amendment Foundation founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb stated.
