KALAMAZOO, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – A nonprofit organization and others are suing federal agencies over the re-classification of bump stocks.
Gun Owners of America, et al. filed a complaint on Dec. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan Southern Division against U.S. Department of Justice; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); et al. seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the ATF has been asked to determine whether bump-fire-type stocks or bump stocks constitute as machine guns under federal law numerous times. The plaintiffs allege the ATF previously determined they are not machine guns under federal law.
The suit states after the October 2017 mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, the ATF classified bump stocks as machine guns.
"ATF’s re-classification of bump stocks as machine guns is a political decision designed to circumvent the legislative process, not a legal one based on any technical evaluation," the suit states.
"Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that such bump-fire stocks do not constitute 'machine guns' under existing federal law," the suit states.
The plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction halting the enforcement of the regulation, a declaratory judgment that sets aside ATF's action, and an order enjoining the defendants from enforcing the regulation. They are represented by Kerry L. Morgan of Pentiuk, Couvreur & Kobiljak PC in Wyandotte, Michigan.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan Southern Division case number 18-cv-01429