Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general, in supporting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) rule that helps prevent illegal gun trafficking by requiring private gun sellers to obtain a license and perform background checks on potential buyers. The multistate coalition filed an amicus brief in Texas v. ATF arguing that the ATF’s rule is necessary to protect public safety and prevent domestic abusers and other dangerous individuals from illegally obtaining guns.
“My mission to help Minnesotans live with dignity, safety, and respect, and gun trafficking is a threat to everyone’s safety,” said Attorney General Ellison. “If you need to pass a background check to buy a gun from a store, you should have to pass a background check to buy a gun from a private seller too. This is a common-sense rule that vast majorities of Minnesotans and Americans support. It will save lives by reducing gun trafficking and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”
After the mass shooting at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, NY and the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Congress enacted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which closed certain loopholes that allowed gun traffickers and criminals to obtain guns without undergoing background checks. In particular, the law expanded the definition of gun sellers to include additional private sellers, making them subject to federal licensing and background check requirements.
From a mass shooting at a bar in St. Paul, Minnesota that left one dead and 14 people injured, to the murder of a Chicago Police officer, to a mass shooting at a block party in Brooklyn that left 8 people injured, trafficked guns have been used to carry out catastrophic violence in American communities. Attorney General Ellison and the coalition argue that unlicensed gun sales by private sellers make it easier for people who cannot legally purchase firearms to obtain them, endangering communities and fueling gun violence. The ATF’s rule is intended to make it more difficult for dangerous individuals to illegally obtain guns. The coalition makes the point that the ATF’s rule will curb gun trafficking and protect public safety.
Joining Attorney General Ellison in filing this amicus brief are New York Attorney General Letitia James and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who led the coalition, and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
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