You may remember in late March of 2021, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that bump stocks were not, in fact, machine guns. The ruling itself was based on the ATF’s bump stock regulation not being entitled to “Chevron Deference,”; a legal doctrine that holds that a court may not substitute its own opinion in the place of reasonable interpretation made by an administrative agency. Once this was decided, Gun Owners of America made the case that the bump stock does not meet the legal definition of a “machine gun.” The 6th Circuit then ruled in favor of Gun Owners of America and said that bump stocks are not, in fact, machine guns.
Well, it looks like after an En Blanc session (a session where the entire court reviews and votes instead of a single judge or smaller panel), the 6th Circuit has held an 8-8 tie vote leaving the bump stock ban in place.
This ruling is a double-edged sword for gun owners. The ban allows the ATF to prosecute Rare Breed Firearms for their FRT or “Forced Reset Trigger,” turning law-abiding gun owners into felons overnight. It also currently lays the legal foundation for regulating all semiautomatic firearms under the NFA, which we know is the stated goal of gun-control groups and advocates like the once-nominated almost ATF Director David Chipman. On the other hand, if the Supreme Court can overturn the regulation, the ATF will have little power to try and regulate semiautomatic firearms without Congress. Read more…
