by This past Friday the US Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs in Guedes et al v. BATFE and Codrea v. Barr a stay in the bump stock ban rule and referred the request back to the Circuit Court for the DC Circuit.
18A1019 GUEDES, DAMIEN, ET AL. V. BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, ET AL.
The application for stay, presented to The Chief Justice
and by him referred to the Court, is denied.
Applicants request that if we deny this application we
grant a limited stay of 120 hours to allow them to come into
compliance with the Final Rule. We refer the issue of such a
stay to the D.C. Circuit for its consideration.
Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch would grant the
application.
So where does this leave the case now?
The Firearms Policy Foundation released a statement by email along with the response of the Circuit Court on Sunday evening. If you do have a bump stock and are a member of one of the organizations such as Florida Carry or the Firearms Policy Foundation, you have until 5pm, Wednesday, April 10, 2019 to legally turn it in.
From FPF:
On Friday, the Supreme Court denied our legal team’s request
for a stay (i.e., postponement) of the ATF’s Final
Rule re-classifying “bump-stock-type” devices as illegal
machineguns while we continue to litigate the various claims we raised
in our lawsuit and in the other consolidated cases. The D.C. Circuit
subsequently ordered the following:
based on the government’s representation that it will not enforce the
Bump-Stock Rule against the named plaintiffs or their bona fide
members before 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, the emergency
joint motion to extend stay order [1781365-2] be denied and the
administrative stay entered on March 23, 2019, and clarified on March
25, 2019, be dissolved. The Clerk is directed to issue the mandate
forthwith. Before Judges: Henderson, Srinivasan and Millett. [19-5042,
19-5044]
The Government (DOJ/ATF) has agreed to allow the individual
plaintiffs in Guedes, et al. v. BATFE, et al. and the
organizational plaintiffs’ – i.e., Firearms Policy Foundation, Florida
Carry, Inc., and Madison Society Foundation, Inc. — bona fide members
(as well as the individuals in the consolidated Codrea, et
al. action) to come into compliance with the new Final Rule by
5p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. The Government also represented
that it “will also retain the bump stocks” that are provided to them
in compliance efforts until our legal action is completely
concluded.
Friday’s Supreme Court decision to deny the stay we requested was
disappointing but not entirely unexpected. But importantly, there is
much litigation left before the cases are disposed of. Our team is
currently working on a petition for en banc rehearing by the
full D.C. Circuit. And we are prepared, if need be, to petition the
U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari (review).
We maintain that the Government’s new rule is unconstitutional and
unlawful. And we will continue to aggressively litigate this case and
work to defend American gun owners from this unlawful ban mandated
by President Donald Trump. Updates will continue to be posted to our
BumpstockCase.com
case webpage.
In an abundance of caution, we wanted to make you aware of how the
Final Rule could affect owners of affected devices. As set forth in
the Final
Rule, 83 Fed.Reg. 66530, and according
to the ATF, a bump-stock-type device owner’s options are:
1) Destroy the bump-stock device according to the ATF’s published
“Bump
Stock Destruction Instructions”; or,
2) Surrender it/them to the “nearest” ATF office. (ATF advises that
it is best to make an appointment beforehand with the nearest ATF
office.) You can find your local ATF field office and their phone
number at https://www.atf.gov/contact/local-atf-offices.
Non-compliance with the ATF’s Final Rule (i.e., continued
possession of a bump-stock-type device) could lead to serious criminal
liability. Individuals (or a company/organization) who
maintain possession of an affected device can be prosecuted for
unlawful possession of a putative machinegun, where he/she/they can be
imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined up to $250,000 (or more in
some cases) per violation.
Chief Counsel Joshua Prince of Firearms Industry Consulting Group,
a division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., who is representing
Firearms Policy Foundation and numerous other plaintiffs in
Guedes, et al. v. BATFE, et al., has suggested that
individuals who wish to comply with the ATF’s Final Rule by
surrendering their device to the ATF do so under protest.
As you may be aware, both ATF’s
website relating to bump-stock devices and the Final
Rule, 83 Fed.Reg. 66530, declare that “current possessors also
have the option to abandon bump-stock-type devices at the nearest ATF
office.” In spite of that, however, some reports
(and our own experience) suggest that not all ATF local offices are
accepting bump-stock devices. Thus, you should call the local ATF
office before you travel there to confirm that they are, indeed,
accepting affected devices.
If they are accepting such devices, then make them aware that you
intend to visit their office to surrender your bump-stock device(s)
under protest and inquire as to whether they have any specific
procedures for your entry into the building.
Before you go, you will want to take pictures of your bump-stock
device(s), in case there is ever a question as to the condition, make,
and model of it/them. And you should also consider preparing a letter,
such as the Sample Letter provided below, to advise the ATF that you
are providing them your bump-stock device(s) under protest.
When you go, provide the ATF agent handling your matter with a copy
of the letter and demand that they provide you with a property receipt
that reflects their receipt of your bump-stock device(s) and specifies
the make and model of the device(s). Be aware that they may attempt to
have you sign an ATF 3400.1 Form – Consent to Forfeiture or
Destruction of Property and Waiver of Notice – which you
should NOT sign under ANY circumstance. In the event that
they ask you to sign an ATF 3400.1, inform them that the
only ATF form you are willing to sign is an
ATF 3400.23 – Receipt of Property and Other Items. If they argue at
all with you, politely tell them to review the internal memo that ATF
circulated regarding the right of individuals to surrender
bump-stock-type devices under protest and those individual’s right to
refuse to sign an ATF 3400.1 form.
It would also be prudent to separately document your experience of
the encounter in writing – such as the date and time of your visit,
the location of the ATF office you went to, the names or other
identifying information (ID #, etc.) of all ATF agents or persons you
spoke with, the details of all discussions, and any other information
they told or provided you – and keep it in a safe place.
You can also let our team know if the ATF in any way refuses or
rejects your attempt to comply with the Final Rule. You can submit a
report of your issue to hotline@fpchq.org and/or contact
your attorney for specific legal advice.
In the event that ATF elects to institute a forfeiture action
against your property, they are required to serve you with a copy. If
that happens, you should immediately contact an attorney, preferably
one who specializes in federal firearms law, if you wish to challenge
ATF’s ability to forfeit your property. Again, you can submit a report
of your issue to hotline@fpchq.org, but always
contact your attorney for specific legal advice.
Again, we will continue to aggressively litigate this case and work
to defend American gun owners from this unlawful and unconstitutional
ban.
If you are able, please help support this important lawsuit and our
fight for your rights by making a tax-deductible donation at FightATF.com.
NOTE: This message and its contents are intended to provide
general information only. It is not intended to provide legal advice.
You should always contact your attorney if you want or need specific
legal advice.
