I Should Not Be The One Explaining This

Also file under "If you're so smart why didn't you know this?"

Rulemaking.

Its the process used by the regulatory agencies of the executive branch to make legislation in and around their sphere of influence.

There are two ways to start a rulemaking.

First is when the executive gets a burr up their ass to outlaw something.  This is how we get rulemaking that bans M855 and other SS109 ammunition as "armor piercing".  It's also where 5.56x45mm becomes "designed for" use in a pistol.

Second is when the citizens petition for a rulemaking.  They can suggest what rule they want to see when they petition, but the actual rule will be drafted by the agency and colored by the sitting administration.

Read that very carefully.

You are begging (which is what a petition really is) an agency to change a rule they've already made to make your life easier but they have complete control over what changes will be submitted for comment, and then whether to ignore those comments and do what they want anyways.

In most cases what this boils down to is "leave it well enough alone."

This is also why the best method of affecting changes to the regulations is by getting Congress to pass a law.

But it didn't.  When they proposed doing it, I remember people warning them that the sitting administration and their appointees weren't going to let that fly and the best case scenario was them doing nothing and ignoring the petition.

When the best you can hope for is status quo, don't rock the boat.  No, I am not happy that's true, but it doesn't change that it is.

NFATCA pressed on and got rulemaking opened up with an anti-gun president, an anti-gun head of BATFE with an anti-gun majority Senate.  What the fuck did you think was going to happen?

Well, Rulemaking 41P is what did happen and NFATCA is in full-on retcon that they started the ball rolling.  They're also very unhappy that people remember their role in getting this shit-sandwich submitted for comment.

PS:

Someplace I have a quote from someone at NFATCA talking about prohibited persons getting stamps through the "trust loophole" which is the real crux of what went wrong here.

Found it.

“The NFATCA expressed concern that persons who are prohibited by law from possessing or receiving firearms may acquire NFA firearms through the establishment of legal entities such as a corporation, trust, or partnership.”

"The Petitioner [NFATCA] expressed concern that an NFA firearm could be obtained by a prohibited person and used in a violent crime.” 

“Therefore, for applications for a corporation, trust, partnership, or other legal entity to make or receive an NFA firearms, petitioner has requested amendments to §§ 479.63 and 479.85 to require photographs and fingerprint cards for persons who are responsible for directing the management and policies of the entity, so that a background check of the individual may be conducted.”