Website Report & Copy of the Order
On June 11, 2024, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued a preliminary injunction against the ATF’s enforcement of its “engaged in business” rule. The preliminary injunction protects individuals in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Utah, as well as the members of Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Tennessee Firearms Association or Virginia Citizens Defense League. Opinion, p.1 Significantly, individuals in Tennessee who are not members of one of those 4 organizations are not protected at this time from the ATF’s enforcement authority.
Then, on July 10, 2024, Federal District Judge Toby Crouse (appointed by Trump), sitting in Kansas, denied a request by two dozen states, including Tennessee, for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the ATF’s new “engaged in business” rule. Opinion.
The result of this ruling is that the ATF’s new rule which redefines the concept “engaged in business” is now in effect in Tennessee and most other states but not in Texas, Utah, Mississippi or Louisiana. As a result of the separate Texas lawsuit, the ATF is also prohibited for now from enforcing its engaged in business rule against the members of Gun Owners of America, Tennessee Firearms Association or Virginia Citizens Defense League.
The extreme danger presented by the Kansas decision and the ATF’s new rule is that the purpose of the rule was clearly to eliminate many of the established exceptions to whether an individual would be required to obtain a federal firearms license if they engaged in any conduct that the rule or its examples indicates would reclassify their conduct as something that might require federal licensure. As a result of the differential results in these two cases at this time, Tennesseans who are not protected from the rule’s enforcement because of the Kansas decision are likely to be treated materially different, even potentially prosecuted by the federal government, whereas members of Tennessee Firearms Association (GOA and/or VCDL) are shielded by the injunction that issued in the Texas decision.
Tennessee Firearms Association has increasingly invested in the litigation opportunities over the last 5 years as it has become increasingly and frustratingly obvious that the Tennessee Legislature (under the complete control of individuals who identify as Republicans), the Tennessee Governor (who also identifies as a Republican) and those Republican members of Congress have failed repeatedly to take specific and intentional action to restore our rights under the Second Amendment, particularly when those rights are intentionally infringed by local, state and federal agencies. You can help support this effort by joining Tennessee Firearms Association, renewing your membership if it has expired, making supplemental member donations that are necessary to help fund this litigation and/or making generous tax deductible donations to the Tennessee Firearms Foundation to help support that portion of its mission which includes public interest litigation.
Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee Annual Event
The TFALAC Annual Event is Saturday September 7, 2024. It will be held at the Farm Bureau Expo Center in Wilson County.
This year’s keynote speaker is Pete Hegseth of Fox News who is also now a Tennessean. Other speakers include Congressman Mark Green and Erich Pratt, Sr., Vice President of Gun Owners of America.
Tickets and tables are available for a limited time with “early bird” pricing.
Sponsorships and vendor opportunities are also available now and since these are limited are first come, first serve.
Net proceeds from the TFALAC Annual Event are used to support pro-2nd Amendment candidates for the Tennessee Legislature (which sometimes means we are supporting primary challengers to incumbents who are not working to honor their oaths to protect our rights).
John Harris | Executive Director Tennessee Firearms Association