A federal district court judge dealt a death blow to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ remaining efforts to salvage parts of its controversial “engaged in the business” (EIB) rule. On August 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas denied the Department of Justice’s motion to alter or amend his earlier final judgment, holding that the entire 2024 Final Rule remains vacated.
Under former President Joe Biden, the ATF issued a Final Rule in April 2024 that dramatically expanded who needs a federal firearms license (FFL) to sell guns. The rule relied on language in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) of 2022, which amended the Gun Control Act’s definition of being “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms. Congress replaced the prior “principal objective of livelihood and profit” standard with a requirement that a person devote time, attention, and labor to dealing in firearms “to predominantly earn a profit” through repetitive purchase and resale.
ATF Tried to Turn Private Gun Owners Into Dealers
The ATF went much further. The agency declared that the primary purpose of a sale need not be profit for an FFL to be required. Simply advertising or offering a firearm for sale could trigger the licensing mandate. The rule created a series of presumptions under which a seller was treated as a dealer unless the individual could prove otherwise. Gun rights advocates correctly labeled the regulation a back-door attempt at universal background checks that would criminalize ordinary private sales between law-abiding citizens.
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