2A Newsletter Special Edition: Week of September 23rd

80 Percent Arms Joins FPC to Sue the ATF!

A lot of people have been asking us about the ATF’s final rule which has understandably created much anxiety and confusion in the community since the 2021R-05F was still in its proposal stage last year. We’ve intentionally kept quiet on this issue while carefully considering and planning how best to fight back against the ATF’s unconstitutional actions.

Today, we’re excited to announce that we are officially joining the Firearms Policy Coalition in suing Merrick Garland, the DOJ, Steve Dettelbach and the ATF alongside the VanDerStok v. Garland case.

You can see our full statement on the matter here.

We know you’ve had burning questions that need answers, frankly, we’ve been in the same boat. The fact is, no one was certain how the new final rule would or would not be enforced; what parts or products would be regulated or not. As challenges worked through the courts, new information came out and forced the ATF into providing additional clarity. The ATF purposefully wrote this rule to be misleading and to give themselves the most amount of leeway so that their director could be the deciding voice in what was and wasn’t legal.Court cases involving various entities filing for a preliminary injunction did shed some light on how this will play out though.

Let’s review:

Division 80 Case

Division 80, LLC is an 80 percent parts distributor without an FFL based in Galveston, Texas which was the first company to file a lawsuit against the ATF for their unconstitutional Final Rule. On August 24th, 2022, the District Court for the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the Final Rule. The judge’s reasoning was that the plaintiff, Division 80, did not provide enough evidence that they would suffer irreparable injury from severe economic harm. In lieu of a preliminary injunction, the Final Rule went into effect that same day. It’s important to note, the Judge in the case did not comment on whether the rule would survive a legal challenge, leaving the door open for another potential victory against the ATF.

Gun Owners of America Case

GOA also filed a lawsuit on behalf of two plaintiffs from North Dakota in hopes of securing a preliminary injunction against the “ghost gun” and gun registry Final Rule. GOA made it clear on 10 different issues that the Final Rule was violating multiple longstanding laws including the 1st and 5th Amendments of the Constitution. The judge in this case was far more hesitant to challenge the government, denying GOA the preliminary injunction and stating that the Bruen decision did not apply here.

Firearms Policy Coalition Case

FPC was the third and most recent group to sue the ATF in which they sat in the most advantageous position to obtain a preliminary injunction for us all having learned from two prior denials. On September 2nd, 2022 a partial preliminary injunction was secured, however, it was not a complete win. Only one of the plaintiffs in this case, Tactical Machining, received protection from the preliminary injunction; it did not apply to any of the other plaintiffs nor for anyone else in the industry.

80 Percent Arms Case

Having learned from all the past cases before us, on September 22nd, 2022, we filed to intervene in FPC's case to become a new plaintiff in suing the ATF. We look forward to bringing the preliminary injunction home for all with a grand slam.

Support us by contributing to our Legal Defense Fund

One of the ways you can support us is by checking out our Legal Defense Fund. It’s an exclusive, limited-timed run of product offerings we have on our site. Oftentimes, we’re asked by loyal customers how they can do more to support us in ways similar to how we support the FPC through rounding-up orders at checkout.

This  new category of products was created as a response to that. We’ve got new apparel, swag and limited edition build kits.

Keep in mind, these are purposefully priced higher than normal to financially support our Legal Defense Fund. It’s not cheap, paying for the best lawyers in the country to fight for all of our rights. We still have to keep the lights on and machines running too!

ENJOY OUR NEWSLETTER?

Do you find it overwhelming, having to keep up with all the news surrounding guns and your right to own or build them? That’s what we’re here for. Obviously we’re slightly biased but we do the digging and research across both sides of the aisle to bring you the most holistic and accurate information so that you don’t have to!

Have topics you would like to see us touch on, or any feedback for us? Make sure to leave a comment below! We want to make sure we are putting out news relevant to our customers, and what you want to hear! Knowledge is power, and the more informed we all are to what's going on with our rights, the more effectively we can fight back.