Cases
Aposhian v. Garland
CASE: Aposhian v. Garland
STATUS: Active
NCLA ROLE: Counsel
COURTS HEARD IN: SCOTUS, 10th Cir.
ORIGINAL COURT: United States District Court for the District of Utah
DECIDING COURT: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
OPENED: January 7, 2019
AGENCIES: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
FOCUS AREAS:
CASE SUMMARY
May a federal agency rewrite a federal statute? May that rewrite turn otherwise innocent Americans into criminals? Those questions are what this case is about.
A federal statute bars Americans from owning machine guns but does not preclude them from owning bump stocks. Firearms instructor Clark Aposhian lawfully purchased a bump stock, but on March 26, 2019, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives adopted a regulation changing the statutory definition of “machine gun” to include bump stocks. By rewriting the statute, ATF turned Mr. Aposhian and more than 500 thousand other law-abiding Americans into felons, subject to a potential 10-year prison sentence if they did not destroy or divest themselves of possession, even though owning a bump stock was lawful under the federal statute at the time of purchase.
NCLA represents Mr. Aposhian in challenging this unconstitutional rewriting of a federal statute. The case is not about whether bump stocks should be banned. Instead, it is about whether ATF acted lawfully in how it banned them. NCLA contends that agencies may not rewrite any statutes, let alone federal criminal statutes.
OUR TEAM
ADDITIONAL VIDEOS
Why The U.S. Supreme Court Must Resolve Chevron Defense Discord
RELEVANT MATERIALS
NCLA FILINGS
Memorandum Decision & Order Denying Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment & Granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment
September 29, 2023 | Read More
Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and Response to Cross Motion
March 6, 2023 | Read More
Defendants’ Response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Cross Motion
February 13, 2023 | Read More
Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment
January 5, 2023 | Read More
Supplemental Brief for Petitioner
December 8, 2021 | Read More
PRESS RELEASES
Watch: NCLA Video Explains Why U.S. Supreme Court Must Resolve Chevron Deference Discord
October 14, 2021
Twenty States Among Amici Curiae Supporting NCLA’s Chevron Deference Cert. Petition at SCOTUS
September 7, 2021
NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Decide Three Chevron Deference Questions ATF’s Bump Stock Ban Poses
August 2, 2021
Chevron Is Admin. Law’s “Lord Voldemort” Say Tenth Cir. En Banc Dissenters in Bump Stock Ban Case
March 5, 2021
NCLA Reply Brief Argues ATF’s Rule Banning Bump Stocks Exceeds Agency’s Legal Authority
December 3, 2020
IN THE MEDIA
Commentary: ATF ruling leaves Utah with the last bump stock standing
April 9, 2019
Will courts allow Congress to pass the bump stock buck?
April 5, 2019
Bump Stock Rule Puts Constitution In The Crosshairs
March 1, 2019
CASE HIGHLIGHTS
Filing
March 6, 2023
Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and Response to Cross Motion
Opinion
April 9, 2019
Commentary: ATF ruling leaves Utah with the last bump stock standing