ATF Defies Trump, Keeps Biden's Ghost Gun Rule Alive

Despite operating under a Trump administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has signaled it will keep the Biden-era regulation intact while it drafts a replacement. The agency made this move in two critical federal lawsuits — VanDerStok v. Bondi and Defense Distributed v. Bondi — requesting stays rather than simply dropping the rule.

Let that sink in: the ATF is asking courts to pause litigation so the agency can write yet another regulation, instead of scrapping the unconstitutional overreach entirely.

The 2022 rule redefined what constitutes a 'frame or receiver' under federal law, effectively treating unfinished parts kits and 80% lowers as serialized firearms. It was a naked power grab by the Biden administration to regulate commonly owned components out of existence — no Congressional authorization required.

The Supreme Court already took a sledgehammer to this rule in Garland v. VanDerStok, ruling last year on narrow statutory grounds — but the lower court battles have dragged on. Now, instead of walking away from Biden's legal wreckage, the ATF is camping on it.

Acting AG Todd Blanche's Justice Department needs to answer for this. Who inside the DOJ or the ATF made the call to preserve a rule designed from day one to criminalize law-abiding gun builders and hobbyists?

This is bureaucratic obstruction in action. Career officials at the ATF are running out the clock, protecting Biden's regulatory legacy while a replacement rule takes shape behind closed doors — potentially carrying the same anti-gun DNA.

Gun owners and Second Amendment advocates fought hard to elect a government that would dismantle this kind of regulatory tyranny. Swapping one rule for another is not dismantling anything.

Demand answers. Contact your representatives and the DOJ directly — tell them to drop both the rule and the litigation. No replacements, no rewrites. Kill it dead.