Probably the worst thing in the new CFR language is the phrase "pecuniary gain."
They did not, in the pages of "clarification" embedded in the CFR manage to define that.
It's not a common word in American English usage, outside of specialist uses.
So, a "plain English" reading is "monetary gain." Whazzat? Dunno. I'll know when I sees it. Yeah, not helpful.
Some of the less reactionary legal folks I have talked to are convinced that AFTE really, really wants a way to go find Joe Bubba what goes to the Podunk Gun Show and finds Gemma or Unc Ted or the like who has found some firearm in the estate of a deceased relative, and has no idea of the current market value of the item, and just wants rid of it, soonest. Joe Bubba then gives the US$25, 50, or hundred, knowing it will "flip" for several hundred (picture a classic S%W revolver or Marlin lever gun here, and think about current prices).
Now, I do not have a very high opinion on predatory and "near predatory" Joe Bubbas out there taking advantage of ignorance. Even as I am of the opinion that "Ignorance may be bliss, but it may also be costly, too." That's me. We humans are supposed to be able to hold more than one opinion of things at the same time.
But, we expect regulatory agencies to only hold one at a time, because, as they possess some portion of the Police Power of the State, we'd all like them to be predictable. Capricious, random, and/or unpredictable enforcement is a bane of human existence (despite being sadly endemic to human governments).
So, have ATFE made their position more clear? Not from my view of it. Have they made things worse? Probably, few such Agencies have the ability to make things 'better.' Should we panic? Probably not. Should we want better? Absolutely. Do I know how to get to better? Not the first clue. Bureaucrats appear to be as bad at this, historically, as autocrats.
