Rule2024-13699
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations; Correction
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 27, 2024
Effective
July 18, 2024
Issuing agencies
Justice DepartmentAlcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau
Abstract
The Department of Justice is correcting a direct final rule titled "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations" that appeared in the Federal Register on April 19, 2024. That document amended Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("ATF") regulations to conform ATF regulatory text to the new firearms-related definitions and requirements established by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the NICS Denial Notification Act. This document makes some minor technical corrections to the direct final rule, which otherwise remains the same as previously published.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53487-53488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13699]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
27 CFR Part 478
[Docket No. ATF 2022R-09; AG Order No. 5921-2024]
RIN 1140-AA57
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations;
Correction
AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives,
Department of Justice.
ACTION: Direct final rule; correction.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is correcting a direct final rule
titled ``Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations'' that
appeared in the Federal Register on April 19, 2024. That document
amended Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (``ATF'')
regulations to conform ATF regulatory text to the new firearms-related
definitions and requirements established by the Bipartisan Safer
Communities Act and the NICS Denial Notification Act. This document
makes some minor technical corrections to the direct final rule, which
otherwise remains the same as previously published.
DATES: These corrections are effective on July 18, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Koppe, by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3e716c7f7e5f4a5810595148"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f6b9a4b7b6978290d8919980">[email protected]</span></a>,
by mail at Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and
Services; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S.
Department of Justice; 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20226; or by
telephone at (202) 648-7070 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 19, 2024, the Department of Justice
published a direct final rule in the Federal Register at 89 FR 28622
that conformed ATF's regulatory language to firearms-related
definitions and requirements established by the Bipartisan Safer
Communities Act (Pub. L. 117-159) (BSCA) and the NICS Denial
Notification Act (Pub. L. 117-103). During the 30-day comment period,
the Department did not receive a significant adverse comment, as
defined in section IV.A of the preamble of the direct final rule.\1\
See 89 FR 28629. Accordingly, the direct final rule as published on
April 19, 2024, will go into effect on July 18, 2024, with the only
changes being the corrections made in this document.
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\1\ The comments and recommendations ATF received were on issues
outside the scope of this rulemaking (such as comments on the
statutory language) and on topics not presented in the direct final
rule (such as comments on being engaged in the business as a
dealer). The comments did not identify a divergence between the
statutory language and corresponding regulatory language included in
the rule, although one comment did also suggest including the minor
June 25, 2022, date provision that ATF is correcting in this
document. These comments do not meet the definition of a significant
adverse comment in Section IV.A of the preamble. See Thompson v.
Clark, 741 F.2d 401, 408 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (``[The Administrative
Procedure Act] has never been interpreted to require the agency to
respond to every comment, or to analyze every issue or alternative
raised by the comments, no matter how insubstantial.'').
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Need for Correction
The direct final rule published on April 19, 2024, in the Federal
Register at 89 FR 28622, inadvertently contained some minor technical
errors in the regulatory instructions and text that this document
corrects. This document corrects errors in amendatory instruction 2 for
Sec. 478.11. That instruction incorrectly redesignated paragraph (c)
under the definition of ``Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence'' as
paragraph (iii) but should have redesignated it as paragraph (3), and
incorrectly designated a new paragraph as (iv) that should have been
designated as paragraph (4), as well as incorrectly designating its
lower-level paragraphs in the regulatory text. This document corrects
those designation errors in the instructions, and also corrects three
cross-references within paragraphs (4)(i) and (iii) to reflect these
new designations. The regulation also
[[Page 53488]]
inadvertently left out the phrase in section 12005(b) of the BSCA (18
U.S.C. 921 note) stating that the new provisions in paragraph (4) do
not apply to any conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
entered before the date of enactment of the BSCA. This document
corrects that error by adding the missing phrase ``if the conviction
was entered before June 25, 2022'' to paragraph (4)(i). This document
corrects instructions and the correlating regulatory text ahead of the
July 18, 2024, effective date of the April 19, 2024 rule.
Corrections
Accordingly, in the direct final rule FR Doc. No. 2024-08339,
appearing on page 28622 in the Federal Register of Friday, April 19,
2024, the following corrections are made:
0
1. On page 28630, in the third column, amendatory instructions b.iv and
v, and the respective regulatory text for instruction 2.b.v are
corrected to read as follows:
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2. Amend Sec. 478.11 as follows:
* * * * *
0
b. * * *
0
iv. Redesignate paragraph (c) as paragraph (3); and
0
v. Add paragraph (4).
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Sec. 478.11 [Corrected]
* * * * *
Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
* * * * *
(4)(i) Subject to paragraphs (4)(ii) and (iii) of this definition,
a person shall not be considered to have been convicted of a
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against an individual in a
dating relationship if the conviction was entered before June 25, 2022,
has been expunged or set aside, or is an offense for which the person
has been pardoned or has had firearm rights restored, unless the
expungement, pardon, or restoration of rights expressly provides that
the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
(ii) In the case of a person who has not more than one conviction
of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against an individual in a
dating relationship, and is not otherwise prohibited under 18 U.S.C.
chapter 44, the person shall not be disqualified from shipping,
transport, possession, receipt, or purchase of a firearm under 18
U.S.C. chapter 44 if:
(A) Five years have elapsed from the later of the judgment of
conviction or the completion of the person's custodial or supervisory
sentence, if any; and
(B) The person has not subsequently been convicted of another such
offense, or any misdemeanor under Federal, State, local, or Tribal law
that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or
the threatened use of a deadly weapon, or any other offense that would
disqualify the person under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).
(iii) Restoration under paragraph (4)(ii) of this definition only
removes the disqualification from shipping, transport, possession,
receipt, or purchase of a firearm under this part. Restoration under
paragraph (4)(ii) is not available for a current or former spouse,
parent, or guardian of the victim; a person with whom the victim shares
a child in common; a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited
with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian; or a person similarly
situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.
* * * * *
Rosemary Hart,
Special Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2024-13699 Filed 6-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-FY-P
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