The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has decided to uphold a controversial Biden-era firearm regulation, a move that is drawing sharp criticism from Second Amendment advocates who expected a swift repeal.
According to an internal email shared by Gun Owners of America (GOA), the administration plans to maintain the “Frame or Receiver” definition.
This rule classifies firearm parts kits, often called “ghost guns,” under the same regulatory umbrella as traditional firearms, requiring serial numbers and background checks for purchase.
The decision marks a pivot from campaign trail rhetoric. During his run for office, President Trump pledged to dismantle what he described as attacks on gun owners by the previous administration. However, advocacy groups point out that three major ATF regulations—the Pistol Brace Ban, the “Engaged in the Business” rule, and now the “Frame and Receiver” rule—remain in full effect.
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“Gun owners feel betrayed and abandoned as we head into the midterms,” said Aidan Johnston, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs. “Promises made have not yet been kept.” Johnston urged the president to “clean house” at the DOJ and appoint a new Attorney General to overhaul the department’s stance.
The shift was confirmed in a DOJ attorney’s email regarding the ongoing case VanDerStock v. Blanche. The attorney noted that while the government had previously paused to evaluate the rule under a February 2025 Executive Order on “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” officials have now “decided to maintain the current definition.”
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) expressed similar frustration, claiming they provided the administration with a “print-ready” proposed rule to replace the Biden policy back in May 2025. “But the Administration has since sat on its hands,” the group stated, adding that the White House is “aiming the Titanic directly at the iceberg.”
The legal landscape is complicated by a March 2025 Supreme Court decision that upheld the Biden administration’s rule. While the DOJ recently launched a Second Amendment Rights division and repealed a “zero tolerance” policy for federal firearms dealers, legal experts noted that the “Frame or Receiver” rule is an administrative choice, not a law passed by Congress.
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“It’s just a rule adopted by one Admin, and the next is free to scrap it,” wrote Kostas Moros, Director of Legal Research for the Second Amendment Foundation. “They don’t have to keep it, and until now, it looked like they weren’t going to. Clearly, something abruptly changed.”
The Department of Justice has not yet issued a public comment on why it chose to retain the regulation.
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