By: Anthony Morelli
The Constitution doesn’t matter much to the ATF.
They apparently have no intention of following the rules.
And now they made a horrible announcement aimed at law-abiding gun owners nationwide.
When the Supreme Court strikes down a particular law, the government must abide by it. That is how the American system of checks and balances is set up.
During his presidency, Donald Trump issued an executive order banning bump stocks. The Supreme Court ruled that was unconstitutional. Agencies like the ATF are expected to follow that ruling.
But now it appears that the ATF is attempting to get off on a technicality so they can keep as many of the bump stocks that they took away, which are now legal, as possible.
They are not making any legitimate effort to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling. Instead they are giving a very brief 90-day window for Americans to get their bump stocks back.
Clearly the ATF is hoping that people won’t hear the news in time and will miss the window.
This would allow the ATF to keep their bump stocks, despite the fact that they are now completely legal.
According to The Truth About Guns, “The ATF has started the embarrassing process of returning bump-stocks to their original owners after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the agency wrongfully determined they were machine guns, but only if the owners act within 90 days.
“The ATF sent letters titled ‘Notice of Opportunity to Request Return of Bump Stock(s) in ATF Custody’ last week. They include an address in Washington, D.C., and an email that the former owners can contact to arrange for the return of their property. Once the requests are processed, the letter states, ‘you will be contacted by someone from the local ATF field office to arrange retrieval of your bump stock(s).’”
This is certainly not what the Supreme Court had in mind when they struck down the bump stock executive order.
The intent was clearly for Americans to be able to legally own these accessories without harassment from the government.
But the ATF is not respecting that.
The article continues, “By arbitrarily establishing the 90-day return window, the ATF has created an internal precedent that it will likely use when it is ordered to return other firearm accessories that were unconstitutionally seized by its agents, including pistol braces, aftermarket triggers and more.”
The article is absolutely right. This opens up a can of worms where the ATF could seize people’s weapons, get struck down in court, and then set up an unreasonably short period of time for people to get their weapons back.
Imagine having your gun seized by the ATF, going to court and winning, and then finding out that the ATF gave you a 30-minute window to get your gun back and you missed it.
This could wind up being their new strategy.
The Supreme Court may well end up having to deal with this again, as it does not appear that the ATF wants to faithfully follow their previous ruling.