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Attorney General Liz Murrill joins SCOTUS Brief on ‘Frame or Receiver’ ATF Rule

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill joined a 27-state coalition of attorneys general, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rein in the Biden-Harris administration’s so-called “Frame or Receiver” firearms rule.

“I will continue to protect Louisianans from the Biden-Harris administration’s relentless and unlawful attempts to strip away our Second Amendment rights,” said Attorney General Liz Murrill.

The rule, issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2022, broadened its interpretation of “firearm”— which now includes certain weapon parts kits that may be readily converted into firearms, as well as certain partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional frames or receivers.

The brief argues: “Congress has not outlawed weapons parts kits, stabilizing braces, or bump stocks. Nor has it dubbed every person handling a gun a firearms dealer. ATF can’t take these actions in Congress’s place."

In November 2023, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously struck down the “Frame and Receiver” Rule because ATF was making laws instead of doing its real job—enforcing the laws passed by Congress—the rule “flouts clear statutory text and exceeds the legislatively imposed limits on agency authority in the name of public policy.”

Louisiana is one of many states including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming that joined the West Virginia- and Montana-led brief.

Read a copy of the amicus brief here.