On May 1, 2024, the Tennessee Firearms Association had the honor to join the States of Texas (lead plaintiff), the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah, Jeffrey Tormey, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and the Virginia Citizens Defense League in a lawsuit filed in the Northern District of Texas against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Steven Dettelbach. See, State of Texas, et al., v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, et al., N. D. Texas No: 2:24-cv-00089-Z (May 1, 2024).

In this civil action, the Plaintiffs seek “a stay of agency action, temporary restraining order, and/or a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo, followed by a declaratory judgment and permanent injunctive relief restraining Defendants from enforcing a Final Rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S. Department of Justice on April 19, 2024, entitled “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms”” As noted in the Complaint, “the Final Rule goes far beyond the subtle change Congress made to the law, subjecting hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for all manner of activities relating to the innocuous, statutorily authorized, and constitutionally protected private sale of firearms.” Complaint, p.2.

As it has become increasingly obvious that neither the Tennessee Legislature nor its Governor are serious about their assurances that they will support and protection the Second Amendment rights of Tennesseans, TFA has joined with the four other states and others in an effort to fight the obvious constitutional violations by the federal government and Biden’s administrative branch that are intended to make hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans either apply for federal firearms licenses or face the risk of federal felony prosecutions.

Tennessee Firearms Association has made a significant commitment to assist in funding this litigation. TFA’s volunteer executive director, who is a full time practicing attorney, has agreed to be one of the attorneys representing the non-state plaintiffs in this action. TFA’s director, Richard Archie, also assisted by signing one of the affidavits that was filed with the complaint to establish TFA’s “organizational standing” to represent its members and their interests.

Assuming this action will be fought by the ATF with all of the taxpayer funding that it has available to it and that the issues could in time reach the U.S. Supreme Court, TFA’s participation could be financially substantial. Many TFA members who were aware that TFA was considering some type of participation in litigation against the ATF’s new “engaged in the business” rule have already indicated that they are willing to help raise the funds to fight this battle to preserve and protect our rights from further and ongoing abuses by the federal government. If you made such a commitment to TFA or if you would like to support this effort, you can make tax deductible donations to the Tennessee Firearms Foundation (a 501(c)(3) entity) and/or, you can join and make supplemental member donations directly to the Tennessee Firearms Association.