Trump ordered DOJ not to appeal ruling loosening gun limits, sources say

Washington — President Trump ordered the Justice Department not to appeal a court ruling that loosened restrictions on firearms known as "gangster weapons," sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, a move that will let some Americans possess or sell short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and silencers with less government oversight.

For more than 90 years, those types of arms have been among the most heavily regulated because they are generally considered to be particularly dangerous and easily concealable.

Under the National Firearms Act, first enacted in 1934, anyone wishing to sell, possess or make a firearm or device covered by the law has had to submit a detailed written application to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They have also had to be fingerprinted and were required to register the weapons, which must be engraved with serial numbers, with the ATF.

But in August, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, a Trump appointee in the Northern District of Texas, ruled that most of the restrictions on all but two categories of specialized firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act are unconstitutional.

The president himself decided against appealing the ruling, several of the sources with knowledge of the matter said. Mr. Trump has also told some Republican members of Congress in a series of calls in recent weeks that he would ensure the Justice Department did not contest the decision, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Letting the lower court ruling stand runs counter to the recommendations of some career and politically appointed lawyers at the Justice Department across multiple offices who disagree with the court's opinion, several of the sources said, adding that they have warned it is already beginning to adversely impact federal firearms prosecutions across the country.

It also runs afoul of the Justice Department's "duty to defend," a longstanding legal principle that says the department has a constitutional duty to defend the laws enacted by Congress, as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of those statutes, some of the sources said.

CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department and the White House for comment.

The judge's decision came in two consolidated cases brought against the government by 15 red states and a number of Second Amendment gun rights groups and individuals, including the Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation.

Although the ruling applies only to the parties to the lawsuit, any current or future members of the gun groups that sued over the rules are covered. An annual membership to the Gun Owners of America, for example, costs $25.

The ruling does not apply to the country's most popular firearms, such as AR-15s and Glock pistols, which are standard weapons available for sale commercially and regulated largely under a different federal law.