Sixth Circuit Bails-Out ATF on Bumpstocks

Last month, the Sixth Circuit failed to achieve the majority necessary to correct the ATF’s shifting classifications of bump stocks as “machine guns.” NRA-ILA’s amicus brief opposed the ATF’s legal authority to arbitrarily criminalize legal firearms. Because the judges split 8-8, the flawed bump stock rule is being reinstated.

This is only one of several challenges supported by NRA-ILA. In September, ILA also filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in another case challenging the ATF’s authority to legislate your firearm rights. The Justices will decide whether to hear that case—Aposhian v. Garland—at the Court’s December 10th conference.

Gun owners and Second Amendment supporters recognize the importance of these cases and why they implicate much more than bump stocks. The underlying issue is whether the ATF can usurp Congress’s exclusive authority to criminalize American firearm rights. NRA-ILA argues against such sweeping ATF authority.

While ILA is disappointed in the Sixth Circuit’s failure to achieve a proper majority on this important topic, we remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will rectify this error by accepting—and correctly deciding—the Aposhian case. To stay informed about these cases and NRA-ILA’s support of your Constitutional rights, go to www.nraila.org.

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