A judge has upheld an ATF prohibition on bump stocks.
A federal judge has upheld the ATF’s ban on bump stocks, devices that boost firing speed.
U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish ruled on Sept. 29 (pdf) that the prohibition on bump stocks imposed administratively by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) several years ago was appropriate.
“This court concludes that the regulation is an appropriate exercise of the agency’s discretion to fill gaps implicitly left by Congress,” and so “it declines to declare the rule unlawful or enjoin its enforcement,” wrote Judge Parrish, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.
The lawsuit opposing the bump stock ban was brought by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) on behalf of firearms instructor Clark Aposhian. It’s one of several challenging the ATF’s ban on bump stocks, which are accessories that attach to semi-automatic firearms.
Bump stocks were banned in 2019 when the Department of Justice (DOJ) amended regulations of the ATF, classifying bump stocks as equivalent to machine guns and making them illegal.
The NCLA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. But the NCLA’s litigation counsel, Caleb Kruckenberg, earlier called the case a “perfect example, unfortunately, of what we call the administrative state.”
“What I mean by that is with no intervening action from Congress with no change in the law, the ATF has said that they know better than Congress, and the ATF is trying to rewrite the statute. But that’s not their role,” Mr. Kruckenberg said in a video posted on the group’s website.
“Congress is supposed to write the laws and the executive branch acting through the agencies are supposed to apply them,” he added.
Congressional interest in bump stocks grew after authorities found that the gunman who perpetrated a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 attached them to several of his semi-automatic firearms.
Bump Stocks in Focus
Even though federal legislation doesn’t regulate bump stocks expressly, the ATF effectively banned them by classifying the devices as “machineguns,” as defined in the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968.
By Tom Ozimek
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