Pro-gun rights

WASHINGTON (June 30, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) issued the following statement in response to the United States Supreme Court granting review in FPC’s Viramontes v. Cook County, Illinois lawsuit challenging the County’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment:

Thanks to GOA’s lawsuit, a federal judge in Texas vacated Biden’s “Engaged in the Business” rule in its entirety.

That rule tried to twist the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to impose backdoor universal background checks by redefining who counts as a “dealer.”

Now, ATF has proposed a replacement rule that claims to “rescind” the Biden rule, but in reality keeps key parts of its legal framework in place and leaves gun owners exposed.

We’re calling on all GOA members to speak up and stop the ATF from attempting to keep the worst parts of this now-dead rule on the books!

The deadline for comments is coming up, so gun owners can’t afford to sit this one out, our rights depend on it!

COPY PRE-WRITTEN COMMENT

PASTE & SUBMIT COMMENT

Preview comment

I oppose ATF’s proposed “Engaged in the Business” rule (RIN 1140-AB01).

Although ATF claims this proposal rescinds the Biden Administration’s unlawful rule, it openly admits that “some sections of the Biden rule will be retained.” Rather than fully restoring the limits Congress placed on federal authority, this proposal preserves many of the same legal theories that threatened ordinary, law-abiding gun owners under the previous rule.

I agree with Gun Owners of America that ATF should fully abandon the Biden Administration’s interpretation of the law instead of simply repackaging it in a different form.

Congress carefully distinguished between commercial firearms dealers and private citizens who occasionally buy, sell, or trade firearms from their personal collections. Yet this proposal continues to blur that line. ATF continues to believe that a person can be “engaged in the business” without ever earning a profit.

Even more troubling, ATF continues to treat ordinary, lawful conduct as evidence of criminal activity. Under this proposal, keeping a simple list of your firearms, reselling the same model within a short period of time, or even offering to sell a firearm can still be used as evidence that someone is “engaged in the business” without a license. The agency also continues to promote the dangerous theory that intent alone can be enough to prosecute law-abiding gun owners, despite federal court rulings rejecting that approach and despite the clear limits Congress wrote into the statute.

The proposal also fails to fully protect the broad statutory safe harbor Congress created for occasional private sales and transfers from a personal collection. Americans should not have to fear federal prosecution simply because they decide to sell or trade personally owned firearms.

These regulations are simply a recycled version of the Biden Administration’s effort to impose backdoor universal background checks through executive action rather than legislation. That represents a clear breach of trust with America’s law-abiding gun owners.

ATF should withdraw this proposal and issue a new rule that faithfully follows the plain language of federal law, respects the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and clearly rejects the flawed legal theories that federal courts have already rejected.

ATF’S BAIT-AND-SWITCH: RESCIND THE RULE, KEEP THEIR FAVORITE PARTS

Under this proposal, ATF says it will drop some of Biden’s presumptions and narrow definitions, but it openly states that “some sections of the Biden rule will be retained.”

ATF still treats everyday behavior by gun owners as suspicious: keeping a simple list of your firearms, reselling the same model within a short window, or even just offering to sell a firearm can be used as evidence that you are “engaged in the business” without a license.

The agency continues to push the idea that intent alone can be enough evidence to prosecute law-abiding gun owners as illegal firearms traffickers, despite the court’s ruling and the clear limits Congress placed in law.

ATF cannot keep the Biden‑era Engaged in the Business framework on the books.

The rule must be rescinded in its entirety.

A federal court has already rejected the Biden rule, and ATF’s own history shows that its aggressive theories reach far beyond what Congress intended.

Our vocal grassroots members can hold ATF accountable.

GOA members have been crucial to change and have worked to stop bad policy in the past.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Copy our model comment.

Step 2: Then, with our model comment copied, paste it into the federal register’s comment section and submit your comment to the ATF.

Let them know that gun owners want real change, not a return to the status-quo.

COPY PRE-WRITTEN COMMENT

PASTE & SUBMIT COMMENT

ATF CANNOT KEEP THIS RULE.

IT MUST BE ABOLISHED.

ATF’s notice of proposed rulemaking also shows that it is not seriously inviting gun owners into the process.

Instead of asking broad questions about how the statute should be interpreted, the agency mostly seeks comments on the details of its already‑chosen approach.

But the Administrative Procedure Act requires ATF to consider substantive public comments, and courts have blocked rules when agencies ignore evidence or exceed what Congress authorized.

Gun owners have a critical opportunity to speak up and stop the rule.

If ATF doesn’t listen, these comments build the record that will be used in future legal challenges.

Let ATF know that gun owners expect real change, not a recycled version of Biden’s universal background check rule.

Last week, we told you that GOA, GOF, VCDL, VCDF, and gun rights journalist John Crump secured a preliminary injunction in Crump v. Katz, our lawsuit against Virginia’s so-called Assault Weapons Ban.

This injunction prevents the Virginia State Police from enforcing the challenged gun and magazine bans while our case continues through the court system.

Virginia gun owners cannot let up now.

We expect the Commonwealth to appeal, and local prosecutors across Virginia need to hear from gun owners immediately.

That is why we are asking you to send a pre-written letter to your Commonwealth’s Attorney today.

Tell them to agree with the judge’s ruling and refuse to enforce these unconstitutional gun and magazine bans against law-abiding Virginians.

SB749 and SB727 threaten ordinary gun owners with criminal penalties for acquiring, transferring, manufacturing, importing, or publicly carrying many commonly owned firearms and standard-capacity magazines.

These bans violate Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution, which states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Virginia gun owners deserve protection from unconstitutional enforcement at every level of government.

TAKE ACTION:

Please send a message to your Commonwealth’s Attorney and urge them to agree with the judge’s ruling.

Tell them Virginia’s gun and magazine bans are unconstitutional and should not be enforced against law-abiding gun owners!

Click here to view the list of Commonwealth’s Attorneys.

As a reminder, 17 Attorneys have already publicly committed to protecting the Second Amendment rights of Virginians:

• W. Lyle Carver, Amherst County
• Leslie M. Fleet, Appomattox County
• Paul A. McAndrews, Campbell County
• Daniel J. Farnsworth Jr., Charlotte County
• Matthew E. Bass, Clarke County
• W. Eric Branscom, Floyd County
• John L. Lumpkins Jr., Goochland County
• Bethany Harrison, Lynchburg
• Chapman L. Good, Sr., Page County
• Dayna K. Bobbitt, Patrick County
• Rob Cerullo, Powhatan County
• Justin L. Griffith, Pulaski County
• Kyle Kilgore, Scott County
• Elizabeth H. Cooper, Shenandoah County
• Phillip Blevins, Smyth County
• Ryan Mehaffey, Spotsylvania County
• John S. Bell, Warren County

Below is a supplemental letter that you can use:

Dear [Commonwealth’s Attorney’s name],

As a Virginia gun owner, I urge you to agree with the court’s ruling in Crump v. Katz and refuse to enforce Virginia’s unconstitutional gun and magazine bans against law-abiding citizens.

SB749 and SB727 target many commonly owned firearms and standard-capacity magazines that Virginians have lawfully owned, used, acquired, transferred, and carried for decades.

Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution is clear: “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

The Lancaster Circuit Court has now issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Virginia State Police from enforcing the challenged statutes while the case continues.

I urge you to respect that ruling and publicly commit that your office will not prosecute peaceable Virginians under these unconstitutional laws.

Attorney General Jay Jones is trying to minimize the scope of the injunction by claiming it binds only the Virginia State Police. But pretending local prosecutors can carry on like nothing happened is reckless.

State law presumes officials obey constitutional rulings, and those who ignore them may lose qualified immunity and face personal liability.

Law-abiding gun owners should not be turned into criminals for exercising their constitutional rights.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

The court has spoken. Now your local Commonwealth’s Attorney needs to hear from you.

Send your message today and demand that no peaceable Virginian be prosecuted under these unconstitutional gun bans.

Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and VCDL have secured a preliminary injunction in Crump v. Katz, our lawsuit against Virginia’s so-called Assault Weapons Ban!

This injunction prevents the Virginia State Police from enforcing the challenged gun and magazine bans while our case continues through the court system.

As it currently stands, the temporary injunction extends the enforcement date from July 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026.

This is a major victory for Virginia gun owners.

SB749 and SB727 threatened law-abiding Virginians with criminal penalties for acquiring, transferring, manufacturing, importing, or publicly carrying many commonly owned firearms and magazines holding more than 15 rounds.

Today’s ruling blocks enforcement of those unconstitutional bans while GOA and our allies continue fighting to defeat them for good.

We expect an appeal from the Commonwealth, but for now, Virginia gun owners have won a critical victory.

TAKE ACTION:

Please call your Commonwealth’s Attorney and urge them to agree with the judge’s ruling.

Tell them Virginia’s gun and magazine bans are unconstitutional and should not be enforced against law-abiding gun owners!

Click here to view the list of Commonwealth’s Attorneys.

As a reminder, 17 Attorneys have already publicly committed to protecting the Second Amendment rights of Virginians:

• W. Lyle Carver, Amherst County
• Leslie M. Fleet, Appomattox County
• Paul A. McAndrews, Campbell County
• Daniel J. Farnsworth Jr., Charlotte County
• Matthew E. Bass, Clarke County
• W. Eric Branscom, Floyd County
• John L. Lumpkins Jr., Goochland County
• Bethany Harrison, Lynchburg
• Chapman L. Good, Sr., Page County
• Dayna K. Bobbitt, Patrick County
• Rob Cerullo, Powhatan County
• Justin L. Griffith, Pulaski County
• Kyle Kilgore, Scott County
• Elizabeth H. Cooper, Shenandoah County
• Phillip Blevins, Smyth County
• Ryan Mehaffey, Spotsylvania County
• John S. Bell, Warren County

Please also consider contributing to our GOA Litigation Fund so we can keep defending your rights in Virginia and across the country as this lawsuit moves forward:

SUPPORT GOA’S LEGAL EFFORTS

GOA and our allies are not backing down.

We will keep fighting until Virginia’s unconstitutional gun and magazine bans are defeated for good.

This small victory is just the start of a long road ahead. Thank you for sticking with us when it counts!

What: Consistent with FPC’s victories against “vampire rule” laws in multiple states, the United States Supreme Court today issued a major 6-to-3 decision in Wolford v. Lopez holding that Hawaii cannot presume that peaceable carry is forbidden on private property held open to the public unless the owner first gives express permission. In the decision, the Court held that this reversal of the longstanding common-law default unconstitutionally infringes upon the exercise of the right to bear arms and violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

WASHINGTON (June 24, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) issued the following statement in response to President Trump’s recent remarks regarding national concealed carry reciprocity legislation:

What: A reply brief in support of the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment was filed in Roberts v. ATF, an FPC-backed challenge to the National Firearms Act of 1934.

What: A Florida appeals court held in Eubanks v. State that Florida’s ban on public carry by peaceable 18-to-20-year-old adults violates the Second Amendment, citing FPC victories against age-based bans in multiple courts. Notably, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said that his office will not appeal the ruling.

Here’s What Happened at GOA Last Week! At GOA, we’ve been hard at work fighting for your Second Amendment rights, here’s what we did…

From defeating the ATF’s “Engaged in the Business” rule in federal court, to winning a Supreme Court case regarding gun owners who use marijuana, and exposing the injustice of a failure in Texas law that ended with a gun owner arrested — GOA has been busy.

You deserve an update.

Recently,

Gun Owners of America defeated ATF’s tyrannical “Engaged in the Business” rule, where a federal judge vacated the rule in its entirety.

Gun owners nationwide can breathe a sigh of relief that the rule is now dead. 

***

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 last week that the federal government cannot prosecute someone solely because they use marijuana while owning a firearm.  

This is a massive win for gun rights, and a huge rebuke to the federal government, who attempted to preserve their ability to prosecute otherwise law-abiding gun owners who use marijuana.

***

And finally, we worked last week to highlight a case out of Texas where a gun owner — who happens to be NBA player James Harden — was arrested over a technicality in Texas law, having a handgun outside a holster while in a vehicle.

Even in “pro-gun” states like Texas, where constitutional carry is the law of the land, ridiculous gun control laws like these jail gun owners unjustifiably and often.

We’re demanding that Texas abolish this unconstitutional law.

GOA’s legal team won a major victory recently against the ATF & DOJ in our case GOA & Texas v. ATF.

This case was a challenge to the Biden-era “Engaged in the Business” rule, which essentially criminalized private sales of firearms, requiring sellers to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and run a background check before doing so.

In reality, the true plan behind this rule was to create a universal background check system without any act of congress. Instead, ATF would simply arrest those who did not comply.

Combine this with the fact that prior, the Biden Administration mandated that all background check forms be held by ATF indefinitely, further growing ATF’s illegal registry of guns and gun owners.

When the rule was released, GOA along with the Attorney Generals of 4 states, sued the ATF over the enforcement of this blatantly unconstitutional rule.

Recently, a federal judge agreed with us, vacating the rule and declaring that the ATF may not apply the final rule to anyone — including individuals and organizations that are not parties in our case.

Although we are celebrating the win in this rule being vacated, ATF still maintains an illegal registry. 

We’re working to dismantle this registry with the help of Congress, and we won’t let up until ATF’s illegal registry is completely abolished.

In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot automatically strip someone of their Second Amendment rights just because they regularly use a controlled substance like marijuana, without any evidence that they are actually dangerous. 

GOA’s amicus brief in United States v. Hemani argued that the government handpicked the most unsympathetic plaintiff possible, with alleged connections to foreign terror groups. 

We asked SCOTUS to look past the plaintiff and evaluate the issue at hand, the blanket ban on firearm ownership by those who unlawfully use controlled substances. The court seems to have done just that.

Even though the ruling is narrow, this is a win for gun rights. It also opens opportunities for challenging other gun control laws, specifically on the state level.

Some of the most anti-gun states specifically use their liberal marijuana laws against those who want to use this drug — which has legitimate medical uses — and also enjoy their Second Amendment right.  

And in Texas, a “pro-gun” constitutional carry state, we watched as NBA star James Harden got arrested and charged because his legally owned handgun was sitting in the cup holder of his car instead of in a government-approved holster.

He wasn’t accused of threatening anyone, firing a shot, or committing any violent crime, yet the system treated the mere presence of a visible handgun as a criminal offense.

If an internationally known NBA player can be arrested, with conditions banning him from possessing firearms while his case winds through court, imagine how an ordinary gun owner would be treated in this exact same situation.

Our rights are not subject to holster mandates, visibility rules, or anything else for that matter.

That’s why we’re calling on Texas lawmakers to abolish this law, so a situation like this never happens again.

Texas legislators would do well to remember, the Second Amendment is a right, not a privilege.

And finally, GOA’s annual convention, GOALS, is on the horizon.

The Gun Owners Advocacy and Leadership Summit is being held this year on August 1st & 2nd in Des Moines, IA.

Come out and see your favorite manufacturers, handle all sorts of new products and hear from the top voices in the Second Amendment community.

Explore over 150,000 square feet of guns and gear, with over 200+ of the biggest brands in the firearms industry all showcasing the latest and greatest.

And with fantastic speakers like Brett Cooper, Lena Miculek, Ken Paxton, Brandon Herrera, John Lovell, and more!

The best part? It’s FREE for GOA members.

Don’t miss out! Register here.

That’s all for now, but just know that we’ll be working hard to protect and restore the Second Amendment.

Keep an eye out for more updates from GOA in your inbox, coming soon.

What: Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed its opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Reese v. ATF, challenging the district court’s denial of complete relief after FPC prevailed against the federal age-based handgun and ammunition purchase ban.

What: Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a reply in support of its motion for summary judgment in Morris v. Savannah, its lawsuit challenging a City of Savannah, Georgia firearm storage ordinance that is patently unlawful under the State’s comprehensive firearm preemption law.