NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

___

ATF rules not updated to allow migrants to purchase firearms

CLAIM: An update to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ background check policy allows people in the U.S. illegally to purchase firearms.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> The killing of a Georgia nursing student is now at the center of the US immigration debate </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Mother of missing Wisconsin boy, man her son was staying with charged with child neglect </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> GOP-led Kentucky House votes to relax child labor rules and toughen food stamp eligibility standards </bsp-custom-headline> </bsp-list-loadmore>

THE FACTS: No such update has been made. Federal law prohibits people in the country illegally from purchasing or possessing firearms, with “limited exceptions,” an ATF spokesperson told The Associated Press. The ATF does not have the power to change federal law, only implement it.

Amid accusations from Republicans that President Joe Biden’s migrant policies are to blame for the recent killing of a nursing student in Georgia, social media users are falsely claiming that the ATF is making it easier for people who enter the U.S. illegally to obtain certain