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« Young v. Hawaii, en banc | Main | Hunter Biden's gun »

6th Circuit strikes down ATF "bump-stock" determination

Posted by David Hardy · 25 March 2021 02:04 PM

The case is Gun Owners of America v. Garland, handed down today. The big issue was Chevron deference, under which a court defers to an agency interpretation of an ambiguous law. A couple of wonderful quotes:

"Notwithstanding the ATF's frequent reversals on major policy issues, we understand that the Court would consider the bureaucrats at the ATF as experts in firearms technology. But that technical knowledge is inapposite to the question of what should be criminally punished and what should not."

"Consistent with our precedent and mandated by separation-of-powers and fair-notice concerns, we hold that an administering agency's interpretation of a criminal statute is not entitled to Chevron deference. Consequently, the district court erred by finding that the ATF's Final Rule, which interpreted the meaning of a machine gun as defined in 26 U.S.C. ยง 5845(b), was entitled to Chevron deference. And because we find that "single function of the trigger" refers to the mechanical process of the trigger, we further hold that a bump stock cannot be classified as a machine gun because a bump stock does not enable a semiautomatic firearm to fire more than one shot each time the trigger is pulled. Accordingly, we find that Plaintiffs-Appellants are likely to prevail on the merits and that that their motion for an injunction should have been granted."

3 Comments | Leave a comment

fsd | March 25, 2021 6:21 PM | Reply

Well, that was unexpected. Still...

I wouldn't go digging up your bumpstock yet, there is no way the swine in the federal judiciary will let this stand.

Michael Murray | March 26, 2021 7:47 PM | Reply

I am happy to celebrate any small victory, even if the current Mob-o-crat family will find another sleazy way to outlaw them.

RWH | March 26, 2021 10:12 PM | Reply

I read it yesterday. Strong opinion. I also noticed a familiar name in a law review cite.

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