Bump Stock Case Expedited by Court of Appeals in DC

Ammoland ^ | 5 March, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

The appeal by the Plaintiffs against the BATFE in the bump stock ruling has been expedited.  The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ordered the parties to submit briefs by March 4th of 2019. That is extraordinarily fast by U.S. appeals court standards.

The original ruling by the Circuit court hinged on the notion that ordinary words are ambiguous, and an agency can reverse previous rulings when the agency decides to do so.  From the opinion:

Most of the plaintiffs’ administrative law challenges are foreclosed by the Chevron doctrine, which permits an agency to reasonably define undefined statutory terms. See Chevron v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Here, Congress defined “machinegun” in the NFA to include devices that permit a firearm to shoot “automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger,” 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b), but it did not further define the terms “single function of the trigger” or “automatically.” Because both terms are ambiguous, ATF was permitted to reasonably interpret them, and in light of their ordinary meaning, it was reasonable for ATF to interpret “single function of the trigger” to mean “single pull of the trigger and analogous motions” and “automatically” to mean “as the result of a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that allows the firing of multiple rounds through a single pull of the trigger.” ATF also reasonably applied these definitions when it concluded that bump stocks permit a shooter to discharge multiple rounds automatically with a single function of the trigger. That this decision marked a reversal of ATF’s previous interpretation is not a basis

[marktwain]

When bureaucrats can reverse settled law by fiat, there is no rule of law.

[Paladin2]

https://law.stanford.edu/2018/08/02/kavanaugh-and-the-chevron-doctrine/

[Hypo2]

“GOA’s attorney countered by telling the judge there is no actual proof of one recorded instance where bump stocks have been used in a crime.

Olson even cited the lack of FBI and ATF statements, studies or reports to demonstrate that there is no conclusive evidence that a bump stock was actually used by the Las Vegas shooter.

This was something of a “mic drop” moment, because when given the chance to respond, the government’s lawyer could not — in fact, he refused to — counter Olson’s statement on this point.

Thus, the oral arguments in the Western district federal court on March 6 established unrebutted testimony that, to date, there is no proof of any documented case where a bump stock was used in a crime.”

https://gunowners.org/alert3719/

[Deaf Smith]

bump

[bk1000]

“Used in a crime” or not, by their own language, a single round is fired by a single action of a trigger. A bump stock, or belt loop, or rubber band is a device that uses the recoil of the rifle to help you move your finger faster, but that’s it. I can’t see how they, even in their wildest outreach, that they could call any of these things “machineguns” and stand there with a straight face.

[Pollster1]

I assume that bump stocks were used in the Vegas shooting, as was reported by the #FakeNews media, but whether they were or not is irrelevant. The clear letter of the law should decide, and the law does not regulate bump stocks. To anyone sensible, that should settle the question. [Note: I prefer to hit on every shot and think bump stocks are a silly waste of ammo, but my view should be irrelevant to those who like to rock and roll making noise.]

[Badboo]

Hopefully Trump’s first attempt at gun control will go down in flames.
His second attempt, promoting red flag laws is succeeding wildly in the states, with no due process protections.

He also reneged on his promise on national reciprocity.

[2harddrive]

Mic drop moments! I like that. Want to help “crowdfund” the 2nd Amendment? This website can help: https://gundynamics.com/about

[The Toll]

Nice touch. This all came about because of the Presidents response to Vegas. Which had NOTHING to do with bumpstocks. The GOA attorney’s damn well know they are lying.

[FLT-bird]

This reminds me, I need to re-up my membership in the GOA.

[marktwain]

He also reneged on his promise on national reciprocity.

How? Reciprocity passed the House. It had no chance in the Senate.

Reciprocity never got to President Trump.

[Badboo]

He specifically told Congress not to attach it to any other bill. To send it as a freestanding. This is what effectively killed it.

No matter how you cut it, with the usurper we were on the defensive.
With a republican majority for two years and Trump we are on the defensive and losing ground.

The only bright spot are in those patriot states passing constitutional carry and in gun sanctuary counties. The federal level absolutely sucks.