A federal judge on Thursday denied a petition from a gun kit and parts business in Prospect for an injunction against a cease and desist order from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that prohibits the business from selling components for making functioning firearms.

Not An LLC, which does business as JSD Supply, located on New Castle Road in Prospect, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh after the ATF served the business with a cease and desist letter May 12.

JSD sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to bar the ATF from taking any action related to the cease and desist letter.

An opinion that accompanies the decision from Judge William Stickman IV says that although the ATF rescinded the cease and desist letter after the suit was filed, JSD believes the rescission letter from the ATF reiterates the same interpretation of the Gun Control Act of 1968 that the agency used to issue the order, and an injunction is still needed.

According to the opinion, JSD had to prove that it could win on the merits of its suit in order to obtain an injunction, but it did not prove that.

One reason is that the cease and desist order does not constitute a final agency action, which is a statutory prerequisite for a judicial review, according to the opinion.

The second reason is that claims in the suit are not ripe for adjudication, meaning that the case is not ready to be litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration because all other avenues for resolving the case have not been exhausted.

In addition, the opinion states that cease and desist letters serve only as notification that the ATF believes the Gun Control Act is being violated. During oral arguments, an ATF attorney said the letter had no independent legal effect.

The ATF is not required to issue cease and desist letters and those letters are not a prerequisite for the ATF to take action. If the ATF has probable cause to believe a crime occurred, it does not have to send a cease and desist letter before acting, according to the opinion.

In the suit, JSD said it stopped all retail sales after being served with the cease and desist letter, which prohibited the business from selling component parts to build functioning firearms in a single transaction or multiple transactions.

JSD argued that none of the products it sells are regulated by the Gun Control Act. Among the products are 80% receivers, which are incomplete and unfinished firearm frames or receivers that buyers can make into functional firearms with additional parts and tools. The ATF refers to 80% receivers as blanks or castings.