Last week's Supreme Court ruling that struck down a four-decade-old legal precedent known as Chevron that allowed federal agencies to interpret federal law broadly could have ramifications for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, legal experts tell The Trace. “The opinion will affect gun regulations like it’ll affect all agency regulations, and perhaps more,” said law Prof. Eric Ruben of Southern Methodist University. “The courts are especially divided on gun law questions right now, and there are some that will be inclined to construe federal laws that delegate authority to the ATF narrowly.” Chevron held that the courts should defer to federal agencies to interpret ambiguous federal laws. Now it will be up to the courts to decide whether federal laws are in line with Congress’s intent.
ATF issues rules on firearms technology, as it’s done with bump stocks, ghost gun kits, and pistol braces. Now it would be up to the courts, whose judges are not necessarily firearms experts, to interpret federal statutes. “The court wants Congress to take the leading role in regulating the nation,” said law Prof. Adam Winkler of the University of California, Los Angeles. “But one has to wonder if it’s a misplaced faith. Congress seems structurally unable to tackle any of the major problems facing the country right now.” The ruling could effectively paralyze the ATF’s rulemaking authority by exposing a wide array of rules and regulations to court challenges. “One thing overturning Chevron does is encourage litigation,” Winkler said. “It’s going to open the floodgates for any regulation to be challenged. So litigants will be incentivized to bring cases because there’s now a greater chance that they’ll win.” This could have a chilling effect on ATF, which might think twice before issuing a rule that will be tied up in court for years and ultimately tossed.