National Rifle Association v. Brady
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · No. 89-3345 · 914 F.2d 475
🤝Mixed outcome
Two regulations upheld and the hearing claim rejected, while part of a third regulation and a fourth were struck as inconsistent with the statute.
GunMapUSA assessment of the outcome's direction, not a statement that the court decided rightly or wrongly.
What the court held
The NRA and allied groups challenged four Treasury/ATF regulations implementing the Gun Control Act as amended by the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act, and also argued FOPA entitled them to an oral rulemaking hearing. The Fourth Circuit applied ordinary Chevron deference, upheld the regulations defining 'business premises' and 'gun show' and most of the personal-firearms recordkeeping rule, but invalidated the portion requiring recording of information not specified in the statute and the rule requiring licensed collectors to inventory curios and relics already in their possession. It also held that written comments satisfied FOPA's hearing requirement.
Summarized from the court's opinion.
What this case is about
validity of Treasury and ATF regulations implementing the Firearms Owners' Protection Act
GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.
Key Dates
- 1990-10-11 — Decided
Sources
- CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08
Summary of public court records. Not legal advice.