ATF Corrects Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations

Content

ACTION:

Direct final rule; correction.

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 ORA@atf.gov, 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.

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 § 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

  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:

Regulatory Text 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:

1. Amend § 478.11 as follows:

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b. * * *

iv. Redesignate paragraph (c) as paragraph (3); and

v. Add paragraph (4).

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§ 478.11 [Corrected]

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Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

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(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.

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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

Footnotes

(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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