Your constitutional rights to make your own tools of self-defense has been affirmed by the court once again!
In yet another victory for the right to keep and bear arms, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit yesterday ruled in favor of Mountain States Legal Foundation and our clients in the case of VanDerStok v. Garland!
Last year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a new rule that improperly defined a range of inert objects as “firearms.” But the definition contradicted the text of the federal Gun Control Act. With this effort to rewrite federal regulations, President Biden made countless individuals criminals.
Thankfully, due to Mountain States and our friends at the Firearms Policy Coalition—on behalf of Jennifer VanDerStok, Mike Andren, and Tactical Machining—the federal district court ruled in our clients’ favor to protect their rights. Our winning argument was that the ATF exceeded its authority, as outlined by Congress.
Yesterday, after a serpentine path through different levels of the courts (including the Supreme Court!), the Fifth Circuit upheld and affirmed the district court’s ruling. In the opinion of the court, written by Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt, the
“ATF, in promulgating its Final Rule, attempted to take on the mantle of Congress to ‘do something’ with respect to gun control. But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation. That vital duty, for better or for worse, lies solely with the legislature.”
Once again, Mountain States has successfully defended the constitutional right to self-manufacture firearms from the overreach of bureaucrats at the ATF. Thanks to the hard work of our attorneys, the courage of our clients, and the vigilance of our supporters, we have preserved a tremendous victory.
While the Final Rule of the ATF will remain in effect as the case proceeds on its likely path back to the Supreme Court, this is still a monumental win for our clients and MSLF’s Center to Keep & Bear Arms. We are thrilled to see the Constitution and liberty win today!
From Judge Andrew S. Oldham’s concurring opinion:
“The Final Rule is limitless. It purports to regulate any piece of metal or plastic that has been machined beyond its primordial state for fear that it might one day be turned into a gun, a gun frame, or a gun receiver. And it doesn’t stop regulating the metal or plastic until it’s melted back down to ooze. The [Gun Control Act] allows none of this. I concur in the majority’s opinion holding the Final Rule is unlawful.”
