Government,
Constitutional Law
Aug. 18, 2023
A vague rule to define the ‘receiver’ of a firearm is confusing and divisive
In 2022, the ATF issued its Final Rule, “Definition of Frame or Receiver.” As a microcosm of our Nation’s divisions, the reaction was swift, hostile, and bitterly divided: 290,000 comments were received, a Justice Department record. Like a proverbial Rorschach blot, the Final Rule was viewed in vastly different ways.
Matthew Sean Harrison
Attorney
Prometheus Civic Law, P.C.
In 1968, shortly after the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the U.S. Congress passed the Gun Control Act (GCA). (Pub. L. No. 90-618.) The GCA defines "firearm," in relevant part, as: "any weapon...which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive" or "the frame or receiver of any such weapon." (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3).) The GCA also requires importers or manufacturers of firearms...
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