WASHINGTON — A broad expansion of federal background checks for gun purchases is set to take effect in less than two weeks. Republican challenges to the law were expected, but one of those objections is turning heads. It is coming from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who helped to pass the bipartisan law that the Biden administration said made the new rule possible.

What You Need To Know

  • Last month, the Biden administration approved a new rule to address what it considers a loophole that allowed tens of thousands of guns to be sold, often at gun shows, without background checks

  • The new rules makes clear that anyone who sells guns predominantly to earn a profit must be federally licensed and conduct background reviews, whether or not they sell the firearms at gun shows, online or in traditional stores
  • Biden administration officials say the broad expansion is made possible under a bipartisan gun safety legislation that passed in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting in Texas 

  • Two of the laws Republican negotiators, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, called the new rule "unconstitutional" and said would go further than what they intended under the bipartisan law

Two summers ago, President Joe Biden held a ceremony on the White House South Lawn shortly after signing into law sweeping gun safety legislation. The bipartisan law followed a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

“I also want to thank the bipartisan group of senators who worked so hard to get this done, especially Senators Murphy, Sinema, Cornyn, Tillis — I hope I don’t get you in trouble mentioning your name,” Biden said at the time.

Cornyn helped to negotiate the law, but now the Texas Republican is lining up against how the Biden administration is implementing it.

Last month, the Biden administration approved a new rule to address what it considers a loophole that allowed tens of thousands of guns to be sold, often at gun shows, without background checks. It makes clear that anyone who sells guns predominantly to earn a profit must be federally licensed and conduct background reviews, whether or not they sell the firearms at gun shows, online or in traditional stores.

“We’re making clear who has to get a license. We’re also making sure that we’re protecting people who are legitimate hobbyists and personal collectors, people like my family who have guns as part of our tradition, but aren’t in the business of trying to buy and resell guns to make money,” Rob Wilcox, deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, told Spectrum News.

“This rule and the president are focused on actually getting out the source of the illegal guns and the problem of guns being trafficked into our communities,” Wilcox continued.

In a joint statement, Cornyn and another negotiator on the gun safety law, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, called the rule “unconstitutional.”

The statement said the rule was “not based on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and any claim otherwise from the administration is an outright lie. This rule has long been on Democrats’ wish list.”

When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives first proposed the new rule, Cornyn and Tillis sent a letter last year saying the measure would go further than what they intended under the bipartisan law.

“This was done to prevent someone who should register as a firearms dealer from evading licensing requirements because he or she had another job that supported his livelihood,” the senators said in the letter. “We wanted to clarify that if a person has a job and also operates a firearms business, he or she must still register as a firearms dealer.”

Cornyn was booed at the Texas GOP convention after the gun safety law was passed and some gun rights advocates remain skeptical now.

“He realizes that they’re misusing and abusing and stuff, and he should have known it to begin with just like we did at Gun Owners of America,” Stephen Willeford, national spokesperson for Gun Owners of America, said. “Is he totally ignorant? Or did he do this intentionally? Now, he’s trying to put a bill to stop this from happening.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who often clashes with Cornyn, announced he is already suing the Biden administration over the new rule. Gun Owners of America is a part of the lawsuit.

“We have a history of being able to sell our belongings, or guns or whatever, without having a specific license to do so,” Willeford said. “And you don’t need a law that infringes upon law-abiding people like myself or yourself.”