Denver, Colorado — July 29, 2021 — MSLF’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms this week argued in a filing that Washington’s continued flip-flop on what constitutes a “firearm” under federal law also requires a deeper examination of who should be granted intervenor status in Syracuse v. ATF, a potentially pivotal gun rights case.
CKBA clients have been denied intervenor status based on the premise that the federal government would adequately represent average gun owners and parts producers who stand to lose the most if the antigun lobby succeeds in banning the self-manufacture of personal firearms by American citizens.
If that premise was dubious at the outset, it’s been destroyed now, given that President Joe Biden’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is executing a U-turn on the issue, rejecting the legally correct definition of “firearm” for a sweeping new rule that gives gun-control lobbyists everything they are seeking in the Syracuse lawsuit.
This reversal makes it more imperative than ever that CKBA’s clients are granted intervenor status, argues lead attorney Cody J. Wisniewski. “ATF was never going to represent our clients’ interests adequately, but that’s become even more obvious with ATF’s complete change of position on the central issue raised in this case, which is what constitutes a ‘firearm,’ under federal law,” says Wisniewski. “Our clients can’t possibly be adequately represented by an agency that just switched positions mid-stream.”
“The government may be getting ready to surrender to gun-control activists on this issue,” added Wisniewski, “but the Center’s fight on behalf of the People is far from over.”
Several progressive-run U.S. cities and anti-gun groups late last year sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). These gun control activists want to force the ATF to regulate raw materials of all kinds—materials that could be used to manufacture a firearm in the future—simply because individuals, through their own knowledge, skill, and ingenuity, can manufacture them into firearms for personal use.
CKBA sought intervention on behalf of our clients, Zachary Fort, Frederick Barton, 80% Arms, and Firearms Policy Coalition, to preserve the natural right and traditional freedom of self-sufficient Americans to legally build firearms for personal use, free from undue (and unconstitutional) government interference, surveillance, and regulatory control.
On January 2, 2021, however, the district court denied CKBA’s clients’ intervention. The district court determined that they had legally protectable interests in the case that could be impaired depending on how the court decided. But the district court determined that CKBA’s clients’ interests were “adequately represented” by federal government.
Knowing the federal government, much less the current Administration, couldn’t possibly “adequately represent” the interests of our clients, nor everyday Americans who value the right of self-defense and self-sufficiency, CKBA appealed the district court’s decision. That issue is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
“Since our nation’s founding, Americans have self-manufactured their own firearms at home,” said Zachary Fort, one of the citizens CKBA represents. “The ability to exercise one’s rights privately, without government intrusion, is a cornerstone of a free society.”
CKBA is on a mission to ensure that the court hears the voices of everyday Americans, especially those whose rights gun control activists want to eradicate.
Oral argument could occur within a few months if the court grants CKBA’s request. “We’re confident the Second Circuit will recognize the gravity of the district court’s error and grant our clients oral argument in this matter,” said Wisniewski.
Mountain States Legal Foundation, created in 1977, is a nonprofit, public-interest legal foundation dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise system. Its offices are located outside Denver, Colorado.
Follow this link to read the filing.
Follow this link to read the case page.