Idaho Joins Multi-State Coalition in Defense of Second Amendment

[BOISE] - Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador joined Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach in filing a lawsuit on behalf of 21 states opposing an ATF rule that would prevent law-abiding Americans from privately selling firearms.

The rule seeks to require a federal firearms dealer license for every individual who sells a firearm for anything the ATF sees as a profit, including currency, exchange of another firearm, or a service. It could make a felon of a gun hobbyist who sells a firearm to another family member, or a hunter who trades a firearm with a friend.

"This is just the latest attempt in the Biden Administration's relentless assault on the Second Amendment," said Attorney General Labrador. "These new ATF regulations circumvent Congress - like so many other Administration efforts - and make felons out of law-abiding gun owners if they sell a firearm or two to family or friends. This is blatantly unconstitutional, and we will protect the Second Amendment rights of Idahoans and all Americans."

"Until now, those who repetitively purchased and sold firearms as a regular course of business had to become a licensee…This rule would put innocent firearm sales between law-abiding friends and family members within reach of federal regulation," the court filing reads. "Such innocent sales between friends and family would constitute a felony if the seller did not in fact obtain a federal firearms license and perform a background check."

In the suit filed yesterday in Arkansas, the attorneys general argue that the rule is unconstitutional, because it is vague, violates the Second Amendment, and circumvents Congress.

Nineteen other states joined Kansas and Idaho in the lawsuit. They include Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Read the court filing here.