By: Anthony Morelli
These three judges just struck an epic blow against the gun control lobby.
They protected the Second Amendment with a major ruling.
Now gun owners are celebrating after their rights became more secure.
The Fifth Circuit has become one of the best circuits in the nation for gun rights, and gun owners just won another major victory there.
The ATF had been trying to redefine brace-equipped pistols as short-barreled rifles in an effort to target gun owners, and they expected that the courts would be on their side and allow them to do as they please.
But that is the opposite of what happened. Gun rights organizations sprung into action and took them to court.
It was a hard-fought battle, but ultimately the Fifth Circuit sided with gun owners and struck down the new rule from the ATF.
Now, the ATF is appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court in an effort to get it overturned by the highest court in the land.
But for now, gun owners are celebrating a massive victory in the Fifth Circuit that has strengthened the Second Amendment and left the gun control lobby reeling.
According to Bearing Arms, “For anyone struggling to keep track of the multiple lawsuits underway that are challenging three separate ATF rules, I have a suggestion: start thinking of them all as the Fifth Circuit v. ATF. The appellate court has already shot down the Trump administration’s ban on bump stocks on the merits, a U.S. District Judge in the Fifth Circuit’s jurisdiction granted a nationwide injunction this week against the ATF’s more recent rule that defines almost all brace-equipped pistols as short-barreled rifles, and on Thursday a three-judge panel on the Fifth Circuit determined that the agency’s rule declaring that unfinished frames and receivers should be treated as if they’re already firearms is also an abusive example of agency overreach and should be struck down.
“The three judges were unanimous in their agreement that the ATF’s rule ‘flouts clear statutory text and exceeds the legislatively-imposed limits on agency authority in the name of public policy,’ and ‘constitutes unlawful agency action in direct contravention of the legislature’s will.’”
Here is what the Fifth Circuit had to say: “How do we know when an agency has exceeded its statutory authority? Simple: the plain language of the statute tells us so.”
This was a bold move by the Fifth Circuit that will almost certainly put them under heavy fire from the liberal anti-gun media.
It has already sent shockwaves through the gun control activist community and infuriated those who expected the courts to be on their side.
Now they are hoping that they can persuade at least 2 of the 6 “conservative” justices on the Supreme Court to betray the Second Amendment and overturn this ruling.
Given the history of some of those justices, it is not out of the question that they might.
But for now, this is an epic victory for Second Amendment advocates. And now the fight moves on to the Supreme Court.