Tag: ATF

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US Military Courts Rules Bump Stocks are NOT Machine Guns

US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals has determined in a ruling that bump stocks are not machine guns in the case the United States v. Ali Alkazahg.

In an earlier judgment, Marine Corp Private Ali Akazahg was convicted for the possession of 2 “machine guns” in violation of articles 83, 107, and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

It was ruled that these “machine guns” owned by Akazahg did not meet the federal definition of the machine gun.

“Bump Stocks Are Not Machine Guns”

The three-judge panel agreed with the arguments made by the defense and unanimously ruled that bump stocks do not meet the definition of a machine gun.

The panel referred to a case that anti-gun activists pressured Congress to act on following the mass shooting in Las Vegas where 60 died. A bill was advanced by Congress, “Closing the Bump Stock Loophole” seeking to treat bump stocks as machine guns.

However, it rightfully failed to pass either chamber of Congress.

I Support Donald Trump, But This is His Fault

In its ruling, the judges pointed out that following the bill’s failure in Congress, there was considerable political pressure on former President Trump to act against bump stocks.

The panel also said that they don’t believe that President Trump had the authority to make de facto law banning bump stocks.

Here’s a quote from the ruling:

[T]he President directed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives [ATF] to issue a new interpretation of a rule—that contradicted the ATF’s previous interpretation—governing legislation from the 1930s. This Executive-Branch change in statutory interpretation aimed to outlaw bump stocks prospectively, without a change in existing statutes

The judges have looked through the history of bump stocks and came to the conclusion that the ATF never considered bump stocks to be machine guns until Trump directed the bureau to reclassify bump stocks as machine guns.

The panel also inferred to the letter issued to William Akins in 2002 for his “Akins Accelerator” where the original version was used a spring.

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ATF is the Key to Biden’s Gun Control

Joe Biden nominee – the former ATF agent turned gun control activist – is set to be in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The new ATF boss will be appointed in a few weeks while the administration is engaging in what is called “pre-hearing spins” relying on New York Times.

A long piece in the publication describes the agency in charge of our firearms industry as the “whipping boy” for NRA in years past. The NRA has long had a pretty decent history of influence over the agency.

The President ordered a ban on the homemade-firearm kits defined as “ghost guns”, expected to be implemented by the A.T.F. For fleshing out gun policy, Biden has demanded the A.T.F. spearhead the first comprehensive federal survey of weapons-trafficking patterns since 2000.

In all likelihood, it is expected to be shouldered by the nominee, former A.T.F.  agent and gun-control activist, David Chipman.

It was at the N.R.A.’s instigation that Congress limited the bureau’s budget and have limited leeway on collection and usage of gun ownership data.

It is also marked by limited unannounced inspections of gun dealers. It was 15 years back that the N.R.A. successfully lobbied for the director’s appointment subject to Senate confirmation and subsequently helped block all but one nominee from taking office.

Chipman didn’t respond when asked for a comment through an official with Ms. Giffords’s gun-control group. In the event that Congress doesn’t confirm Chipman’s appointment, the other way is for Biden to appoint him as the “acting director” – which would give him limited power and authority.

It is expected that gun owners should lobby their senators to oppose Chipman’s nomination with gun control activities.

One thing The New York Times ignored is that Democrats have offered up multiple candidates that couldn’t pass the floor with a majority of the US Senate.

In 2020, President Obama Barack Obama nominated A.T.F. agent Andrew Traver as the permanent director but failed to receive a vote because several senators spoke out over Traver’s anti-gun attitudes. The second nominee, B. Todd Jones was ultimately confirmed but remained in office for less than two years, retired in 2015 and took a job with the NFL.

Chipman boasts 25 years at the A.T.F.  while spending nearly a decade with gun control groups such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Giffords. The New York Times stated that Chipman may not get the votes for confirmation.

Former top N.R.A  official says:

The Chipman pick “is poking people in the eye. I think the president would be better served by appointing a more apolitical person and building more bridges to bipartisanship.

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[WIN] Court: “Bump Stocks CANNOT Be Classified as Machine Guns”

In a ruling, the federal court observed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) cannot classify bump stocks as machine guns.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit further states that the federal ban on bump stocks considered as devices increasing the rate of fire for semi-automatic weapons is seen as unlawful.

Therefore, any ban should be placed on hold.

The prohibition came in the form of a regulation from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which treated bump stocks as if they are illegal machine guns. But the court, in a 2-1 decision, said changes in criminal law are up to Congress.

However, the federal appeals court ruled that such changes in law requires Congress to act – not the executive branch.

“It is not the role of the executive—particularly the unelected administrative state—to dictate to the public what is right and what is wrong.” Judges Alice Batchelder and Eric Murphy of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal wrote the 2-1 majority opinion and emphasized, “Granting the executive the right both to determine a criminal statute’s meaning and to enforce that same criminal statute poses a severe risk to individual liberty.”

The judges observed: “Entrusting the interpretation of criminal laws to the judiciary, and not the executive mitigates that risk and protects against any potential abuses of government power” while writing that a bump stock cannot change a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic, select-fire machine gun.

“A bump stock may change how the pull of the trigger is accomplished, but it does not change the fact that the semiautomatic firearm shoots only one shot for each pull of the trigger,” the judgment reads, “With or without a bump stock, a semiautomatic firearm is capable of firing only a single shot for each pull of the trigger.”

Senior vice president Erich Pratt at Gun Owners of America lauded the court ruling as great news.

He told in a statement on the group’s website: “We are glad the court applied the statute accurately and struck down the ATF’s illegal overreach and infringement of gun owners’ rights.

It was about time for a win!

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