[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 124 (Thursday, June 27, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53487-53488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13699]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

27 CFR Part 478

[Docket No. ATF 2022R-09; AG Order No. 5921-2024]
RIN 1140-AA57


Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations; 
Correction

AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 
Department of Justice.

ACTION: Direct final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is correcting a direct final rule 
titled ``Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Conforming Regulations'' that 
appeared in the Federal Register on April 19, 2024. That document 
amended Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (``ATF'') 
regulations to conform ATF regulatory text to the new firearms-related 
definitions and requirements established by the Bipartisan Safer 
Communities Act and the NICS Denial Notification Act. This document 
makes some minor technical corrections to the direct final rule, which 
otherwise remains the same as previously published.

DATES: These corrections are effective on July 18, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Koppe, by email at [email protected], 
by mail at Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and 
Services; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. 
Department of Justice; 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20226; or by 
telephone at (202) 648-7070 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 19, 2024, the Department of Justice 
published a direct final rule in the Federal Register at 89 FR 28622 
that conformed ATF's regulatory language to firearms-related 
definitions and requirements established by the Bipartisan Safer 
Communities Act (Pub. L. 117-159) (BSCA) and the NICS Denial 
Notification Act (Pub. L. 117-103). During the 30-day comment period, 
the Department did not receive a significant adverse comment, as 
defined in section IV.A of the preamble of the direct final rule.\1\ 
See 89 FR 28629. Accordingly, the direct final rule as published on 
April 19, 2024, will go into effect on July 18, 2024, with the only 
changes being the corrections made in this document.
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    \1\ The comments and recommendations ATF received were on issues 
outside the scope of this rulemaking (such as comments on the 
statutory language) and on topics not presented in the direct final 
rule (such as comments on being engaged in the business as a 
dealer). The comments did not identify a divergence between the 
statutory language and corresponding regulatory language included in 
the rule, although one comment did also suggest including the minor 
June 25, 2022, date provision that ATF is correcting in this 
document. These comments do not meet the definition of a significant 
adverse comment in Section IV.A of the preamble. See Thompson v. 
Clark, 741 F.2d 401, 408 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (``[The Administrative 
Procedure Act] has never been interpreted to require the agency to 
respond to every comment, or to analyze every issue or alternative 
raised by the comments, no matter how insubstantial.'').
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Need for Correction

    The direct final rule published on April 19, 2024, in the Federal 
Register at 89 FR 28622, inadvertently contained some minor technical 
errors in the regulatory instructions and text that this document 
corrects. This document corrects errors in amendatory instruction 2 for 
Sec.  478.11. That instruction incorrectly redesignated paragraph (c) 
under the definition of ``Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence'' as 
paragraph (iii) but should have redesignated it as paragraph (3), and 
incorrectly designated a new paragraph as (iv) that should have been 
designated as paragraph (4), as well as incorrectly designating its 
lower-level paragraphs in the regulatory text. This document corrects 
those designation errors in the instructions, and also corrects three 
cross-references within paragraphs (4)(i) and (iii) to reflect these 
new designations. The regulation also

[[Page 53488]]

inadvertently left out the phrase in section 12005(b) of the BSCA (18 
U.S.C. 921 note) stating that the new provisions in paragraph (4) do 
not apply to any conviction of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence 
entered before the date of enactment of the BSCA. This document 
corrects that error by adding the missing phrase ``if the conviction 
was entered before June 25, 2022'' to paragraph (4)(i). This document 
corrects instructions and the correlating regulatory text ahead of the 
July 18, 2024, effective date of the April 19, 2024 rule.

Corrections

    Accordingly, in the direct final rule FR Doc. No. 2024-08339, 
appearing on page 28622 in the Federal Register of Friday, April 19, 
2024, the following corrections are made:

0
1. On page 28630, in the third column, amendatory instructions b.iv and 
v, and the respective regulatory text for instruction 2.b.v are 
corrected to read as follows:
0
2. Amend Sec.  478.11 as follows:
* * * * *
0
b. * * *
0
iv. Redesignate paragraph (c) as paragraph (3); and
0
v. Add paragraph (4).
* * * * *


Sec.  478.11  [Corrected]

* * * * *
    Misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
* * * * *
    (4)(i) Subject to paragraphs (4)(ii) and (iii) of this definition, 
a person shall not be considered to have been convicted of a 
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against an individual in a 
dating relationship if the conviction was entered before June 25, 2022, 
has been expunged or set aside, or is an offense for which the person 
has been pardoned or has had firearm rights restored, unless the 
expungement, pardon, or restoration of rights expressly provides that 
the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.
    (ii) In the case of a person who has not more than one conviction 
of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence against an individual in a 
dating relationship, and is not otherwise prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 
chapter 44, the person shall not be disqualified from shipping, 
transport, possession, receipt, or purchase of a firearm under 18 
U.S.C. chapter 44 if:
    (A) Five years have elapsed from the later of the judgment of 
conviction or the completion of the person's custodial or supervisory 
sentence, if any; and
    (B) The person has not subsequently been convicted of another such 
offense, or any misdemeanor under Federal, State, local, or Tribal law 
that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or 
the threatened use of a deadly weapon, or any other offense that would 
disqualify the person under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).
    (iii) Restoration under paragraph (4)(ii) of this definition only 
removes the disqualification from shipping, transport, possession, 
receipt, or purchase of a firearm under this part. Restoration under 
paragraph (4)(ii) is not available for a current or former spouse, 
parent, or guardian of the victim; a person with whom the victim shares 
a child in common; a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited 
with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian; or a person similarly 
situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.
* * * * *

Rosemary Hart,
Special Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2024-13699 Filed 6-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-FY-P