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Declaration of Alan M. Gottlieb

I, Alan M. Gottlieb, declare under penalty of perjury that the following statements are true 

and correct:

Second Amendment Foundation, Inc.

1. I founded the Second Amendment Foundation, Inc. (“SAF”) in 1974 and have overseen its 

operations almost continuously since then. I am familiar with all significant aspects of 

SAF operations.

2. SAF is a non-profit membership organization incorporated under the laws of the State of 

Washington. SAF’s principal place of business is in Bellevue, Washington. It is governed 

by a board of directors and has members nationwide and in this district. Defense 

Distributed is a SAF member with home a substantial number of other SAF members do 

business.

3. SAF promotes the right to keep and bear arms by supporting education, research, 

publications, and legal efforts about the Constitution’s right to privately own and possess 

firearms and the consequences of gun control. 

The new Final Rule

4. Congress in the Gun Control Act of 1968 defined “firearm” to mean “(A) any weapon 

(including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel 

a projectile by the action of an explosive; (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; 

(C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does 

not include an antique firearm.” 18 U.S.C. §921 (a)(2). Congress never defined the 

“firearm” term’s constituent phrase “frame or receiver.”

5. From March 1978 to August 2022, the Attorney General of the United States (through 

authority delegated to what is now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 

Explosives) administered the Gun Control Act of 1968 by deeming the “firearm” 

definition’s “frame or receiver” phrase to mean “[t]hat part of a firearm which provides 

housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually 

threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.” Title and Definition Changes, 43 Fed. 

Reg. 13,531, 13,537 (Mar. 31, 1978).

6. In August 2022, the Attorney General of the United States (through authority delegated to 

the ATF) administered the Gun Control Act of 1968 by giving the “firearm” definition’s 

“frame or receiver” phrase a new meaning, Definition of “Frame or Receiver” and 

Identification of Firearms, 87 Fed. Reg. 24,652 (Apr. 26, 2022) (effective Aug. 24, 2022) 

(codified at 27 C.F.R. pts. 447, 478, and 479) (hereinafter the new Final Rule).

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7. The new Final Rule redefines “firearm” under the Gun Control Act as including, for the 

first time, unfinished receivers, unfinished frames, and frame and receiver parts kits. 

See 27 C.F.R. § 478.12(c) (defining “frame” and “receiver” as including “partially 

complete,” “disassembled,” or “nonfunctional” frames and receivers that are “designed to 

or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to function as a 

frame or receiver,” and defining frame and receiver parts kits as “firearms” by providing 

that a “a frame or receiver parts kit” can constitute “a partially complete, disassembled, or 

nonfunctional frame or receiver”). 

SAF Members under the new Final Rule

8. The new Final Rule directly, substantially, and irreparably harms the substantial number 

of SAF members that (a) already legally own at least one firearm purchased from a federal 

firearms licensee, (b) reasonably desire to manufacture their own firearm for lawful selfdefense at home by, inter alia, acquiring from Defense Distributed articles defined for the 

first time ever as “firearms” by the new Final Rule, and (c) would do so imminently if not 

for the new Final Rule’s promulgation. For these SAF members, the effective exercise of 

Second Amendment rights depends on the ability to buy from Defense Distributed 

unfinished receivers, unfinished frames, and frame and receiver parts kits that (1) are not

Gun Control Act “firearms” under the Gun Control Act itself, and (2) are not Gun Control 

Act “firearms” under administrative actions taken prior to August 2022, but that (3) are 

defined for the first time ever as Gun Control Act “firearms” by the new Final Rule. But 

because of the new Final Rule, these SAF members can no longer commercially purchase, 

possess, or otherwise acquire from firms like Defense Distributed unfinished receivers, 

unfinished frames, and frame and receiver parts kits that (1) are not Gun Control Act 

“firearms” under the Gun Control Act itself, and (2) are not Gun Control Act “firearms” 

under administrative actions taken prior to August 2022, but that (3) are defined for the 

first time ever as Gun Control Act “firearms” by the new Final Rule. 

9. Furthermore, the New Final Rule’s vagueness exerts a chilling effect on SAF members, 

who cannot reasonably determine what the law deems punishable and cannot reasonably 

determine how it will be administered.

10. It is no answer to say that SAF members might pay slightly more to acquire the articles in 

question from federal firearms licensees in compliance with the new Final Rule. Such a 

requirement is legally unconstitutional under Bruen; and it is factually impracticable, since 

the new Final Rule’s onerous regime makes it uneconomical for a sufficient number of

licensees to deal in “unfinished” frames and receivers and/or frame and receiver “parts 

kits.” Furthermore, the costs of complying with these unjustifiable extra acquisition steps 

(e.g., FFL transfer fees) are themselves irreparably harms for SAF’s law-abiding members.

11. I executed this declaration on January 6, 2023.

ALAN GOTTLIEB

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