Firearms Policy Coalition Is Preparing For Litigation On Bump Stocks

President Donald Trump, the black letter law notwithstanding, told the nation's governors on Monday that he is "writing out" bump fire stocks.

“Bump stocks, we are writing that out. I am writing that out,” he said, addressing a group of state governors at the White House. “I don’t care if Congress does it or not, I’m writing it out myself."

The president’s comments come after the Feb. 14 shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 students and staff dead. Last week, he directed the Department of Justice to create regulations that ban bump stocks.

Trump also said bump stocks should be put into the same category as certain firearms, making it “tough” to get them.

“You do a rule, have to wait 90 days,” he said. “That’s sort of what’s happening with bump stocks. It’s gone, don’t worry about it. It’s gone, essentially gone, because we are going to make it so tough, you’re not going to be able to get them. Nobody’s going to want them anyway.”

Now yesterday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he thinks the Department of Justice has the legal authority to prohibit bump fire stocks.

"We believe in that, and we have had to deal with previous [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] ATF legal opinions, but our top people in the Department of Justice have believed for some time that we can, through regulatory process, not allow the bump stock to convert a weapon from a semi-automatic to a fully automatic," Sessions told state attorneys general, according to Reuters.

ATF has previously said that it does not have the authority to regulate bump stocks, which increase the firing rate of semi-automatic rifles.

For once, I think BATFE actually got it right when they said they don't have the authority to regulated bump fire stocks. So does the Firearms Policy Coalition.

They have retained attorneys Joshua Prince and Adam Kraut of the Firearms Industry Consulting Group to submit their response when the rulemaking is announced and to help with any litigation related to the rulemaking. They have promised to go to court if any rule banning bump fire stocks is adopted without any Congressional change in the law.

From their release sent out Monday evening:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 26, 2018) — In a press conference today, President Donald Trump said that, “I don’t care of Congress does it or not, I’m writing [so-called ‘bump stocks’] out myself.” In response to these troubling statements, constitutional rights advocacy organizations Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF) have announced that they have retained attorneys Joshua Prince and Adam Kraut of the Pennsylvania-based Firearms Industry Consulting Group, a division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., to submit their legal opposition to any rulemaking and begin preparing for litigation. Last month, FPC submitted a legal letter of opposition to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ advanced noticed of proposed rulemaking on the “Application of the Definition of Machinegun to Bump Fire Stocks and Other Similar Devices.” In its comments, FPC explained that the “DOJ and BATFE clearly lack the statutory authority to re-define the targeted devices as ‘machineguns’,” and that these ATF-approved and legally-possessed devices could not be regulated firearms under the statutes. FPC and FPF oppose restrictions on the acquisition, possession, carry, transportation, and use of semi-automatic firearms, ammunition, and firearm parts and accessories by law-abiding people.
 “We will use every resource and remedy available to us in our ongoing defense of the Constitution, the rights it protects, and millions of law-abiding American people” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “While we would prefer to block any executive action or rulemaking that would ban currently-legal firearms parts before it becomes law, we would not hesitate to file a federal lawsuit to protect the rights and legal personal property of gun owners if that’s what it takes.” Those who wish to support FPC and FPF’s efforts to oppose executive branch gun control and support legal action a can make tax-deductible donation at www.defendgunparts.com. Individuals can become a member of FPC at www.firearmspolicy.org/join. Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
 Firearms Policy Foundation (www.firearmsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPF’s mission is to defend the Constitution of the United States and the People’s rights, privileges and immunities deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition, especially the inalienable, fundamental, and individual right to keep and bear arms. Firearms Industry Consulting Group (www.firearmsindustryconsultinggroup.com) represents individuals, organizations, firearms licensees, and others located across the United States in all matters relating to firearms and ATF compliance. FIGG is a division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C. 

As an aside, the Adam Kraut mentioned in the release is the same Adam Kraut running for the NRA Board of Directors and the same Adam Kraut I have wholeheartedly endorsed.