WASHINGTON — A watchdog group is demanding documents from the Biden administration after whistleblowers alleged that a regulation is under development that would effectively ban private gun sales.
The group, Empower Oversight, said Wednesday that two sources have claimed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is preparing to propose a rule requiring background checks for most or all gun sales.
President Biden has campaigned for stricter gun laws and in August proposed a regulation to clarify that people who “repetitively” sell guns must register as federally licensed gun dealers subject to background checks.
The revised rule purportedly being crafted by the ATF would be even broader, Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt said in a series of posts on X.
Empower Oversight “has learned through whistleblowers within ATF that at the direction of the White House, ATF has drafted a 1,300-page document to justify a rule effectively banning the private sale of firearms,” Leavitt wrote.