Judge tosses ATF lawsuit out of Arkansas court, cites standing
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A group working to stop a change to a recent Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule hit a snag Thursday when a judge moved the case from Arkansas federal court.
The decision by United States District Judge James M. Moody Jr. found the case filed in the Eastern District of Arkansas was without standing. Since those who filed the motion for a preliminary injunction were in Kansas, the case was transferred to the United States District Court of the District of Kansas, Moody wrote in his decision.
Arkansas was a leading plaintiff of the state along with Kansas in the lawsuit, but the other non-state primary plaintiffs in the suit are Kansas residents.
Arkansas had maintained it had standing because of the potential impact of lost tax revenue due to fewer gun sales and fewer tax-producing gun show table sales. Moody’s opinion stated “… these injuries are vague and speculative.”
At issue was a change to the ruling for gun dealers by the ATF. The rule removes the requirement that selling guns must be a primary source of income for firearms sellers, changing it to anyone who sells guns for a profit must have a federal firearms dealer’s license.
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A federal firearms license holder must comply with certain requirements, such as reporting and making background checks on all buyers.
The rule change, which went into effect April 11, would remove the so-called “gun show loophole” where private sellers may sell without a license and are not required to do a background check.
Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport executive Bryan Malinowski was killed by law enforcement serving an early-morning ATF-filed search warrant on his Little Rock home in March. Malinowski had been selling firearms at gun shows as an unlicensed private seller.
The Malinowski family attorney, Bud Cummins, has said Malinowski was acting inside the law because firearms sales were not his primary source of income, in keeping with the rule at the time. At the time of his death, Malinowski was the highest-paid official in the Little Rock government.
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Joining Kansas and Arkansas in the case are the states of Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
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