Bloomberg Law by Martina Barash 9/2/2021
• Full Sixth Circuit is reviewing one case
• Another may go to U.S. Supreme Court
The federal government properly banned bump stocks under a statute regulating machine guns because the accessories convert a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic one, three gun-control advocacy groups say in a brief to the full Sixth Circuit.
Further, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is entitled to routine court deference to its reading of the statute, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Brady United Against Gun Violence, and Everytown for Gun Safety contend. That’s even though the law carries criminal penalties, as many statutes do, they say in their friend of the court brief, filed Wednesday.
The case is before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which vacated a three-judge panel’s ruling that the government can’t regulate bump stocks using the federal machine-gun law.
Justices May Weigh Similar CaseMeanwhile, a bump stock proponent who lost an appeal in the Tenth Circuit has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of his case. Recent friend of the court briefs in that case, Aposhian v. Garland, support the bump stock owner in his attack on the same ATF regulation at issue here.
In the Sixth Circuit case, the three groups opposed to gun violence are writing separately from the government to “provide additional technical explanation” about the workings of bump stocks, they say.
More:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/machine-gun-law-atf-rule-at-center-of-suits-over-bump-stock-ban
