“The Court majority used the near decade of the ATF’s stance on bump stocks against them.”
The ATF, along with all the other alphabet agencies, has overstepped its authority, and should be abolished.
NEW ORLEANS, LA -(Ammoland.com)- The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Trump-era bump stock ban is a violation of federal law.
For years, the Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has held that bump stocks did not meet the definition of a machinegun. A machinegun is a firearm that expels multiple rounds by a single function of a trigger. A bump stock works by replacing the stock and the pistol grip of a rifle with a device that slides. The shooter puts forward pressure on the rifle’s handguard, causing the trigger to be pulled. The recoil of the rifle causes the trigger to reset, allowing the user to pull the trigger rapidly, but only one round is expelled per trigger pull.
During Donald Trump’s administration, a mass killing occurred in Las Vegas. The ATF claimed that a bump stock was used in the attack. Trump asked the ATF to “get rid” of bump stocks. The ATF used Chevron deference to declare bump stocks to be machineguns. Chevron deference is the legal deference afforded to government agencies. If a statute is ambiguous, then the agency in charge of the statutes the deference to determine the meaning of the statutes. The ATF changed the regulations and declared bump stocks to be machineguns because if a device converts a firearm into a machinegun, then the device itself is one. Chevron is very rarely used in criminal statutes. The ATF has used Chevron multiple times in criminal statutes, including the final frames and receiver rule.
By John Crump
