The Department of Justice notified parties in two active federal lawsuits on April 8, 2026 that it will not issue a revised frames-and-receivers rule, choosing instead to maintain ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F — the 2022 regulation that expanded the definition of "firearm" to cover many unfinished frames, receivers, and weapon parts kits. The decision reverses an earlier commitment by DOJ to draft a replacement rule and leaves the Biden-era framework intact under the Trump administration.

DOJ trial attorneys sent the notice in VanDerStok v. Bondi and Defense Distributed v. Bondi, two pending constitutional challenges in which the government had previously obtained 90-day stays to allow time to write a new regulation. A DOJ letter confirmed that the agency completed an internal review prompted by President Trump's Executive Order 14206, "Protecting Second Amendment Rights," and concluded that ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F should remain in force. The rule, finalized in April 2022, requires makers and sellers of many unfinished frame and receiver blanks and weapon parts kits to obtain federal firearms licenses, serialize their products, and conduct background checks on customers. The decision was reported by AmmoLand News and Bearing Arms.

Gun-rights organizations reacted with sharp criticism. Gun Owners of America Director of Federal Affairs Aidan Johnston noted that the decision means all three major Biden-era ATF rules — the Pistol Brace Ban Rule, the Engaged in the Business Rule, and now the Frame and Receiver Rule — remain fully in effect under the current administration. The Firearms Policy Coalition, lead plaintiff in VanDerStok, characterized the administration's Second Amendment executive order as "little more than empty rhetoric" and said it would continue pressing its constitutional challenge. The Second Amendment Foundation described the outcome as a betrayal of the review process that EO 14206 had initiated.

The contradiction between the White House's own language and the DOJ's decision is significant. The same executive order that triggered the review explicitly called the Biden-era rule an "attack on gun owners" that "undermines the Second Amendment." That framing now sits alongside a DOJ decision to keep the rule on the books, placing the administration in an awkward position with gun-owning voters ahead of the 2026 midterms. The Daily Caller noted the decision has drawn criticism from across the pro-gun community. The Supreme Court upheld the rule's core statutory framework in a 7-2 March 2025 decision in Bondi v. VanDerStok, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting, leaving narrower constitutional and statutory claims unresolved.

What to watch: with a replacement rule now off the table, the stays in VanDerStok v. Bondi and Defense Distributed v. Bondi will lapse and both cases will return to active litigation. Plaintiffs are expected to press the constitutional claims left open by the Supreme Court, and motions practice could resume within weeks.