New ATF Regulations; Missouri Legislative Veto; Jail Time for FFLs?

September 6, 2013: Following the new executive orders signed by President Obama, a new set of regulations pertaining to firearms trusts/corporations has been sent to the White House for review.  Although the regulations are anything but final, flaws in them are already receiving attention.  Among other things, the new regulations would require applications to transfer firearms to be submitted to the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in the locality of the transferee, arguably in conflict with some state laws which preclude the creation or maintaining of firearms ownership registries or databases.  The regulations would also create a definition of “responsible person” with respect to firearms trusts/corporations and require responsible persons for the entities to submit photographs and fingerprints and pass a background check.  The definition is expected to include numerous individuals related to the firearms trust/corporation, which may pose problems for creating these entities where one or more of the myriad responsible persons is prohibited from owning a firearm.  A copy of the regulation proposal is available here.

In Missouri, legislators will seek to override the Governor’s veto of Missouri’s version of the Firearms Freedom Act.  The act, which was passed by the legislature earlier this year, was recently vetoed by the Governor.  Since then the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (the first such act) was unconstitutional.  The Governor’s veto and the Ninth Circuit’s decision, however, do not appear to be discouraging the Missouri legislature as it will vote next week on whether to override the veto and enact the law.  Notably, the original bill passed both houses with more votes than it would take to override the veto, so an override is likely.

In other news, a recent plea bargain may well set the precedent for FFLs facing criminal charges and jail time for record keeping errors.  Historically, record keeping errors lead to warnings and then revocation proceedings where the FFL’s license was the only thing at stake.  In one recent case, however, the situation took an unprecedented turn when record keeping errors turned into criminal charges against an FFL and one of his employees.  A recent plea bargain by the employee, based upon his alleged involvement in “shady” sales, arguably sets a precedent for successful criminal prosecution of FFLs and may be a sign of what the future holds for FFLs with record keeping issues. For more on this, click here.