Washington, D.C. (RELEASE) February 28th, 2024 — Today, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court hearing oral arguments in Garland v. Cargill. This case fights back against the 2018 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ (ATF) rule banning bump stocks. This blatant misuse of the National Firearms Act not only erodes the people of Wyoming’s right to bear arms but also represents a dangerous new frontier where federal bureaucrats manipulate federal laws to increase their powers and punish law-abiding citizens.
“The people of Wyoming have a right to protect their family and property, and the ATF’s self-awarded authority to confiscate firearms from law-abiding Wyoming gun owners is an egregious violation of their rights,” said Lummis. “The Biden administration’s systemic weaponization of the ATF is unconstitutional, and I am hopeful the Supreme Court will hold these regulators accountable and defend this critical constitutional right from gun grabbers in Washington.”
In January, Senator Lummis led eight of her colleagues in filing an amici curiae brief focusing on the Chevron doctrine, ATF overreach and the need for Congress to draft clear criminal laws.
BACKGROUND:
- Michael Cargill, the plaintiff, bought two bump stocks in April 2018, before the ATF issued its final rule outlawing them, but turned in the devices in March 2019 after the ban went into effect.
- That same day, he filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Texas challenging the ban on numerous grounds.
- The district court sided with the federal government and upheld the ban.
- A three-judge appeals court panel of the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court’s conclusion that bump stocks qualify as machine guns under federal law, and were subject to a 1986 ban under the National Firearms Act.
- However, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision.
Following the ruling by the Fifth Circuit, the Biden administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
