Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Found File Amicus Brief with Supreme Court in Bump Stock Case
Jose Nino
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On January 29, 2024, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in Garland vs. Cargill. The case in question challenges the ATF’s prohibition on bump stocks.
Gun Owners of America has been actively resisting the Bump Stock ban, which was enacted during the Trump era. In effect, this was a heavy-handed attempt by ATF to re-categorize bump stocks as machine guns under federal law.
GOA held meetings with officials in the Trump Administration to sta d against the prohibitions, has lobbied Congress to prevent the codification of the prohibition, and even filed an independent lawsuit challenging the ATF’s policy reversal, which the Supreme Court previously rejected in 2022.
Many Americans are likely unaware that there are various ways to bump fire weapons, including with one’s own shoulder, and even with something as simple as a belt loop.
GOA’s argument in the amicus brief was summarized as follows:
The ATF’s reversal of their long-held position on the legality of bump stocks is not the “best” interpretation of the underlying statute
A bump stock does not enable semi-automatic rifles to fire multiple rounds by a single trigger pull
Attaching a bump stock to a semi-automatic rifle does not make it a machinegun
The ATF’s new interpretation conflicts with the Second Amendment, because previous Supreme Court precedent has confirmed that the Second Amendment protects not just operable weapons but also the ancillary equipment carried on the person that is useful for their operation.
Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, made the following remarks in a statement that GOA disseminated to its members via email:
This is just one of the numerous examples of the ATF weaponizing their authority to arbitrarily harass and criminalize law-abiding gun owners.
Gun Owners of America is proud to stand with our friend Michael Cargill and all bump stock owners who have come under fire with this ban. We hope SCOTUS will recognize that this action by the ATF has no basis in fact and directly contradicts the Second Amendment.
Aidan Johnston, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs, continued:
“Especially as a former bump stock owner, I’m thrilled that SCOTUS may finally overturn this ban. For an agency to unilaterally implement a ban on a previously legal and government-approved product, without Congress even changing the law, is both unconstitutional and frankly just bad policy making.”
GOA is right to continue fighting the bump stock ban. The fact is bureaucratic anti-gun actions are among the most dangerous because of the simple fact that these agencies are not accountable to the voters and usually are rewarded with more power despite their incompetence, and/or penchant for destroying liberties
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