ATF Proposes Repealing, Replacing, and/or Modifying Key Gun Regulations
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) recently announced the ATF’s rolling back and modifying several ATF agency rules shortly after Robert Cekada was confirmed as the new ATF Director. In his press conference, Cekada announced that the stated goal of these changes is to reduce unnecessary burdens on law-abiding citizens and businesses while modernizing regulatory frameworks and that the agency’s enforcement focus going forward will be on “willful violators and criminal actors, not inadvertent compliance issues by responsible owners and licensees.” Many of these proposed changes will impact those who face or have been charged with criminal offenses at the federal level. For example, on the ATF’s website they summarize some of these proposed rule changes, including: 1) rescinding the 2023 rule on firearms equipped with stabilizing braces, 2) issuing a final rule removing the regulatory language that had incorporated bump stocks into the definition of “machine gun” 3) revising the ATF’s expanded definition of who is “engaged in the business” of dealing in firearms, and 4) revising many of the interstate transport/travel regulations, including individuals transporting lawfully registered firearms for short-term purposes or what is covered under the Firearms Owners’ Protection Acts interstate transport protections. These are just a few of the proposed changes for lawful firearms owners/sellers that can have a substantial impact on individuals who have been charged, convicted, or are subject to investigations under the current regulatory framework given the proposed and/or changed rules. Simply put, the regulatory landscape has materially shifted under the new administration for gun owners, and it would be worth speaking with an experienced criminal attorney about whether those changes affect your or a loved one’s situation. It is worth noting that these are currently proposed or final rules, not pardons or amnesties, so prior convictions are not automatically affected, but in certain circumstances they may provide grounds for dismissal, acquittal or other post-conviction relief.
Andrew Boutros, United States Attorney for Northern District of Illinois Announces Strategy Shift for Federal Prosecutions in District
Andrew S. Boutros, the current U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, recently wrote an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, in which he outlined his vision for tackling violent crime in Chicago and the region, with a renewed emphasis on individual prosecutions in efforts to prevent violent crime and moving away from large multi-year conspiracy cases as a primary strategy for addressing violence in the region (while obviously not abandoning the practice). “There has long been a perception from some in Chicago that federal prosecutors must turn to large-scale conspiracy cases against street gangs as a centerpiece of urban violence reduction… These noteworthy prosecutions, often built under racketeering or similar statutes, are resource-intensive, multiyear undertakings that culminate in sweeping indictments, dramatic news conferences and lengthy sentences.” While commendable and leading to lengthy convictions, Boutros highlighted the shortcomings of such a strategy, saying, “Long-term federal gang and violence cases are built deliberately and painstakingly. Investigations often take years… by the time an indictment is returned, the factual narrative typically reflects a backward-looking account of conduct that may stretch over a decade. That retrospective orientation is inherent to the model. It is designed to tell a comprehensive story of enterprise criminality, not to disrupt the next retaliatory shooting.” Instead, the replacement strategy centers on rapidly charged individual gun cases and backstopping complicated state cases, particularly for violent felons, especially utilizing local federal resources. Special Agent Christopher Amon, in charge of the Chicago Field Division of the ATF, supports and is working in tandem on this new initiative and also is a contributing author of the article. For individuals in the area, Boutros makes clear that his office is explicitly moving towards charging individual offenders in lieu of building bigger conspiracy-related gang cases where low level offenders may be spared, particularly in gun possession cases. The focus will likely be on gun offenders with prior convictions in their criminal history. Even in instances where the state of Illinois may have rejected charges in instances of professed self-defense, his office may intervene with superseding federal charges in certain circumstances. The stated goal is to disrupt the cycle of violence in Chicago and the rest of the Northern District of Illinois.
