Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured an injunction to stop a new federal rule that unlawfully sought to curtail Americans’ constitutional right to privately buy and sell firearms.
On May 1, Paxton led a multistate coalition to sue the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives of the U.S. Department of Justice over the unlawful regulation that would have subjected hundreds of thousands of law-abiding gun owners to presumptions of criminal guilt for privately selling firearms.
Paxton’s office said the rule went beyond the authority granted to the agency by Congress and represented a flagrant violation of the Second Amendment. On May 19, Paxton obtained a temporary restraining order that temporarily stopped the rule from taking effect.
This week, the court has issued an injunction against the rule that prevents enforcement in all states party to the lawsuit. The injunction order identified that the ATF rule likely violated federal law by “requiring that firearms owners prove innocence rather than the government prove guilt” which could “trigger civil or criminal penalties for conduct deemed lawful just yesterday.”
“Texas has secured an injunction against Biden’s unlawful ATF rule that would criminalize the private sale of guns. Biden’s unconstitutional rule cannot be enforced in Texas,” Paxton said. “I’m proud to fight and win for our Second Amendment rights.”
Also, Paxton is leading a coalition of state attorneys general in suing the Department of Labor over a new regulation they say attempts to override longstanding federal law and give foreign nationals working in American agriculture more rights than American citizens.
In April, the Labor Department issued a new rule that would specifically allow foreign nationals working in America under the H-2A visa program within the agricultural industry the ability to unionize and engage in collective bargaining.
The AGs say this rule directly violates federal law including the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 which allowed workers in certain industries to engage in trade unions and collective bargaining but exempted the agricultural industry. Congress has maintained that distinction for nearly 90 years.
The AGs claim the Biden Administration now is attempting to use the agency rulemaking process to grant rights to foreign nationals not offered to American citizens by privileging aliens in the country on the H-2A guestworker visa program with special treatment.
The coalition says the rule represents arbitrary and capricious agency action that exceeds the authority granted to it by Congress.
Paxton has joined with Kansas and other states to oppose what they call an unlawful DOL rule and requests injunctive relief to prevent the rule from taking effect.
“Joe Biden is using his bureaucratic machinery to favor immigrants who are in the country on temporary visas by unilaterally granting them rights that are not enjoyed by American citizens working in the same industry,” Paxton said. “By favoring foreign labor over American workers, Biden is not only breaking the law but turning his back on his own citizens.”
In addition to Texas and Kansas, the other states in the coalition are Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Also, the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers and member Miles Berry Farm join the coalition in the complaint.