Rare Breed Triggers FRT-15
Rare Breed Triggers FRT site-15. Image source; Rare Breed Triggers web

In August, the National Association for Gun Rights sued the ever-overreaching ATF over it’s regulation of forced reset triggers. NAGR’s case is constructed very much along the same lines as Michael Cargill’s successful argument in Cargill v. Garland regarding bump stocks. Namely, that ATF had overstepped its authority under the Administrative Procedures Act to reinterpret legislation and abused its regulatory power by arbitrarily and capriciously redefining forced reset triggers as machine guns.

NAGR asked the court for a preliminary injunction protecting those who make and own legally purchased FRTs…at least until the case can be fully argued and decided.

As United States District Court Judge Reed O’Connor wrote . . .

Without immediate relief, Plaintiffs fear civil and criminal prosecution. For those reasons, among others, Plaintiffs are suing various government officers and entities—the Attorney General of the United States, the DOJ, the ATF, and the Director of the ATF (collectively, the “Defendants”)—over the ATF’s newly broadened definition and implementation of the machinegun regulation.

In the instant action, Plaintiffs bring an APA challenge to the validity of Defendants’ interpretation of the “machinegun” definition. According to Plaintiffs, this definition is unlawful because “Defendants’ interpretation of the law and their specific actions to threaten and potentially initiate enforcement actions against Plaintiffs are thus arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise contrary to law.”

To protect the status quo during the pendency of the lawsuit, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction enjoining Defendants from enforcing or otherwise implementing the novel definition until the Court is able to rule on the merits. Such relief is available under the Court’s inherent equitable powers and pursuant to statutory authorization under 5 U.S.C. § 705.

Exactly. And given Fifth Circuit case law, Judge O’Connor concluded that . . .

…Plaintiffs contend that the ATF’s regulation broadening the machinegun definition is an arbitrary and capricious expansion of the agency’s authority. Plaintiffs are likely correct. Accordingly, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs have carried their burden at this stage to show that the expanded definition of machinegun likely exceeds the scope of ATF’s statutory authority. Therefore, Plaintiffs have satisfied “arguably the most important” of the four factors [justifying a preliminary injunction].

Yesterday he issued a preliminary injunction blocking the ATF from enforcing its redefinition against NAGR, its members, Texas Gun Rights and its members, Rare Breed Triggers and its customers. You can read the full order here.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

18 COMMENTS

  1. Another win is good. It has a trickle down effect as judges start to recognize the shifting winds.

  3. Arrest That Man 👉.
    Agent Aft:
    “But the judge said we can’t.”
    Bettlleback: We’ve got theBiden, screw the judge, take the contraband, fck due process later. And if you encounter any resistance shoot the kid. The Judge says,,,,, who’s side are you on anyway?”

  4. Another injunction against backdoor Gun Control. History shows⁸ Gun Control has always been fixated on attributes whether the attributes concern inanimate objects or are human attributes such as skin color, religion, etc.

    • Skin color does matter, to me anyway, I’ would have a much harder time seeing an African at night then me seeing a Swede.
      However put a Swede and an African in a snowstorm and it would be easier to see the African.
      Colors matter

  5. This sort of gummit tear any will not end until the individuals responsible for these violations of federal law begin to face real and painful and PERSONAL consequences for their perfidy. NONE of the Bow Zoes running or working for BATF have even a nanogramme of power to be MAKING law, and they KNOW or SHOULD know this. Each swore an oath to uphold and defend and faithfully apply the US Constitution with all its duly added ammendments and laws. Until EVERY TIME one of their clowngoons violates their oath and get NAILED for that violation, this insanity will continue.
    I believe a fair and equitable punishment for their braking theor oath would be to pay ALL the legal costs for both sides in cases like this out of their own pockets, NOT tax money collected fromm”the rest of us”. then be severed from that agency and blacklisted so they can never hod another government position as long as they are still wasting oxygen, sounds harsh, right? Well, without harsh the trash just keeps iliing higher and deeper.

  6. We need to prosecute and jail those in the ATF and other agencies for their tyranical acts.

    There should be no sovereign immunity.

    • She’s on the path… “If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain”

      • I guess I just never had a heart.
        Even at a young age I saw that liberal policies just didn’t make sense, even though I didn’t fully understand why.
        The older I get the more I understand how utterly stupid they are and how completely incompatible they are with our republic.

  11. It has been interesting to watch many Libertarians Liberals and Leftists become more and more conservative.

    As well as many atheist I watch become Christian or Jewish. They go back to their family religious teaching.
    They have started to believe that responsibility and consequences come with Liberty.

  12. Mama got shot while holding a baby.
    Save the Children, torch it.
    Timothy McVeigh was evil.
    I Love My President
    Much prosperity
    Support the Foundation
    Joseph Robinett Biden
    For President 2024

    • When I was a kid, a lot of folks had possum cages under the shade tree. Catch a possum, feed him corn and maybe table scraps for at least a couple of weeks, then scald him and scrape him like a hog…

      The hard-core types would bake him whole, removing only the tail and feet. Always with sweet potatoes. I tried a bite once, not bad but greasy.

      It seemed like a whole lot of work to me, but after decades of white trash game “management”, possums and coons were the biggest animals left in the woods, for miles around – and they could be hard to find.

      One good part was a live possum was worth 2-3$, and he couldn’t eat your chickens then.

  13. Just a win isn’t good enough anymore. States like NY have taken to playing this as a game of cat and mouse. You win today, they write a new law and pass it tomorrow leaving you back in court for another 2-3 years to resolve that one. They are abusing the system like a rented mule and nothing gets done about it. There need to be penalties against lawmakers and states who constantly skirt the law like this. We can win 1000 times, but it’ll take 2000 years to get to a point where they can’t just rewrite it again.

Comments are closed.