Before Biden’s DOJ leadership began emptying their desks into cardboard boxes, they couldn’t help but issue yet another amended version of their FFL revocation policy for ATF. This DOJ order, entitled “Federal Firearms Administrative Action Policy and Procedures,” has been amended at least seven times, with DOJ issuing three amendments in the three most recent calendar years alone.
The latest version can be found here: https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/foia/redacted-copy-atf-o-53701g508c2/download
Each of these revisions includes apparently-similar policy guidance but reformatted, reworded, and reorganized in ways that almost seem designed to be difficult to follow from year to year. It’s as if DOJ requested its interns to cut out each of the sentences from the prior order with scissors, ball them into a bingo tumbler, then pull out about 80% of them in random sequence for the new version. This leaves both ATF’s field personnel and FFLs struggling to crack the code on what has changed in the new order and what the changes mean.
The latest version, Order 5370.1G, supersedes the previous directive, ATF O 5370.1F from January 2023. The updated document expands and refines the procedures, placing a stronger emphasis on the “Zero Tolerance” policy for willful violations that directly impact public safety, aligning with Biden’s “Enhanced Regulatory Enforcement Policy (EREP).” The new version calls EREP out by name and expressly uses the “zero tolerance” language for the first time in a 5370.1 Order (or at least the first time in the unredacted language released to the public). The new order also includes explicit directives for stricter consequences resulting from zero-tolerance violations, and procedural requirements for handling them under the EREP framework.
Both versions explicitly stated that ATF may revoke an FFL’s license based on only one, single violation. The new order codifies a definition of willfulness, borrowed from case law: “the terms ‘willful’ and ‘willfulness’ mean a purposeful disregard of, a plain indifference to, or a reckless disregard of a known legal obligation.” The new order goes on to state “ATF does not have to establish a history of prior violations to demonstrate willfulness. ATF may revoke a Federal Firearms License on an initial set of violations if willfulness is otherwise established.”
The current policy states that, when determining whether to revoke a license or issue alternative responses to violations, the field division DIO may take into account the FFL’s procedural safeguards, the FFL’s policies and procedures in place, and actions taken by the FFL to prevent compliance violations. The DIO may request evidence to support these details and the information will be included in the Proposed Alternative Worksheet analysis to be reviewed by the Associate Assistant Director of Industry Operations. These are the details that can save your license.
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