Robert K. Merting - Attorney at Law
Trust Your Guns: A firearms, business, and ITAR knowledgeable law practice
That is essentially the question answered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Reese v. BATFE, No. 23-3003 (5th Circuit 2025) when it considered whether eighteen- to twenty-year-old persons have the right to purchase handguns from Federal Firearm Licensees. Spoiler: Reese 1; BATFE 0. The Second Amendment Covers More than the right ‘to own and bear arms.’ Read More …
The 2018 lawsuit challenging the ATF’s reclassification of bump stocks from plastic accessories to machine guns has finally made its way to a Supreme Court decision. While some laws may take over a century to be struck down, this one only took six years. Practically lightening speed! And yes, you read that right. The ATF’s Read More …
On March 7, 2024 “Constitutional Carry” finally came to South Carolina. Only 232 years, 2 months, and 21 days after ratification of the Second Amendment. But who is counting? Now that we have “it”, exactly what is “it” we have? Well, it certainly isn’t a clean repealing of laws governing firearm possession. Rather it is a Read More …
Over the last decade denials of NFA applications, mostly Form 4s and Form 1s, have increased significantly. The cause has been a combination of multiple factors including i) increased background checks after the implementation of procedural changes in 2016, ii) increased reporting of prohibiting factors by states and other government agencies, and iii) sheer volume Read More …
The ATF recently released proposed rule ATF 2022R-17 regarding what it means to be “engaged in the business” as a dealer in firearms. Ostentatiously, the rule is meant to define the nuanced changes in terms created by last year’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. In actuality, the proposed rule expands who is required to have an FFL to sell Read More …