Free Republic

An obscure regulation designed to close a gun law loophole that allows some people to avoid background checks when purchasing machine guns and silencers has sparked one of the more unusual gun control debates of the year. That's because those doing the arguing are all gun enthusiasts. Gun control groups have stayed out of this one. The regulation in question — proposed earlier this year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — has drawn more than 9,000 comments. Many are from individuals urged to write the agency by gun groups, according to analysis via Sunlight’s Docket...

The White House announced on Thursday that it intends to “ban almost all re-imports of military surplus firearms to private entities” through executive order, which would effectively shut down the 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program. In a Fact Sheet published on Whitehouse.gov today referencing the upcoming executive order the ban on importing military weapons is designed to “keep military-grade firearms off our streets.” Exceptions for import may be allowed for museums. The CMP tightly controls the importation of obsolete military weapons. The program was created by the U.S. Congress as part of the 1903 War Department Appropriations Act with the purpose...

The Obama administration is working to close a loophole in the nation’s gun laws that allows for some machine guns and sawed-off shotguns to be sold without the buyer submitting fingerprints or photographs. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is working on a new regulation that would require more background information when the weapons are sold to someone through a corporation or legal trust. That would eliminate a discrepancy between sales to individuals and those to legal entities, including so-called “gun trusts,” which firearms enthusiasts have used to acquire the weapons without going through normal channels. On...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a proposed regulation to the White House for review that would impose new requirements on gun trusts, Julian Hattem of The Hill reported Wednesday. “The Department of Justice is proposing to amend the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regarding the making or transferring of a firearm under the National Firearms Act,” DOJ announced on RegInfo.gov, saying: The proposed regulations would (1) add a definition for the term ‘responsible person’; (2) require each responsible person of a corporation, trust or legal entity to complete a specified...

Some dealers are currently providing trusts to their customers to avoid the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (the "CLEO") signoff that is required for individual purchasers of Title II Firearms. When a non-lawyer dealer fills out or creates a trust for an individual they are violating their state's unauthorized practice of law ("UPL") statutes. Many dealers and manufactures are providing generic trusts that do not address the unique issues of the NFA and often do not comply with the state requirements for proper execution. In the past, the ATF has accepted many of these invalid trusts and approved the transfer of...

For those of us following The Won's address to his subjects.