Cases
Garland v. Cargill
CASE: Garland, et al. v. Michael Cargill
STATUS: Active
NCLA ROLE: Counsel
COURTS HEARD IN: SCOTUS, 5th Cir., W.D. Tex.
ORIGINAL COURT: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
DECIDING COURT: U.S. Supreme Court
OPENED: March 25, 2019
AGENCIES: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms | Department of Justice
FOCUS AREAS:
CASE SUMMARY
Before reaching the Supreme Court, NCLA won a decisive victory before an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. A federal statute outlaws machine guns, not bump stock devices that attach to a rifle and allow it to fire many shots in succession. For years, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives correctly concluded that firearms equipped with bump stocks are not illegal machine guns under federal law, but in 2018 the agency switched course and branded firearms with the devices “machine guns”, which are federally banned. That switch threatened to instantly turn half a million people, including Texas gun shop owner, Army veteran and firearms instructor Michael Cargill, into criminals who could face a 10-year prison sentence for owning something the government had told them was legal to possess when they bought it.
Mr. Cargill bought two bump stocks in April 2018, relying on ATF’s clear conclusion that they were entirely legal to own and use. NCLA represents him in a constitutional lawsuit that challenges ATF’s effort to rewrite a federal statute. If bump stocks are to be banned, Congress must make that decision and exercise the authority to ban them. If an agency such as ATF can rewrite a statute as it pleases, then any agency can do so the same. The Fifth Circuit agreed with NCLA.
In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit’s decision, a major victory for NCLA.
RELEVANT MATERIALS
NCLA FILINGS
Decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
June 14, 2024 | Read More
Reply Brief for the Petitioners
February 16, 2024 | Read More
Brief for the National Rifle Association of America, Inc. as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Respondent
January 29, 2024 | Read More
Brief Amicus Curiae of Gun Owners Of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of California, Heller Foundation, Tennessee Firearms Association, Tennessee Firearms Foundation, Virginia Citizens Defense League, Grass Roots North Carolina, Rights Watch International, America’s Future, U.S. Constitutional Rights Legal Defense Fund, and Conservative Legal Defense And Education Fund in Support of Respondent
January 29, 2024 | Read More
Brief of National Association Of Criminal Defense Lawyers As Amicus Curiae In Support of Respondent
January 29, 2024 | Read More
PRESS RELEASES
In NCLA’s Bump-Stock Ban Case, U.S. Supreme Court Rules ATF Cannot Alter a Statute’s Meaning
June 14, 2024 | Read More
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in NCLA’s Cargill Case Against ATF’s Unilateral Bump Stock Ban
February 28, 2024 | Read More
Numerous Amici Join NCLA’s Ask for Supreme Court to Rule Against ATF’s Unilateral Bump Stock Ban
February 2, 2024 | Read More
NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Rule Against ATF’s Unilateral Bump-Stock Ban
January 23, 2024 | Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear NCLA Case Against ATF’s Unilateral Bump-Stock Ban
November 3, 2023 | Read More
IN THE MEDIA
A Watershed Supreme Court Term Will Not Drown The Administrative State
June 6, 2024
Will SCOTUS Finally Send ATF’s Bump Stock Ban Back To Congress?
February 28, 2024
How to Defeat the Administrative State
February 22, 2024
Beyond the Statute: Government "Logic" and the Cargill Case
NCLA Blog
February 1, 2024
Michael Cargills Bump Stock Lawsuit
Come and Talk It with Michael Cargill
February 7, 2023
CASE HIGHLIGHTS
Media Mention
February 7, 2023
Federal judge hears arguments in Texas gun owner’s bump stock lawsuit
Source: KXAN
Press Release
June 8, 2023
NCLA Endorses Request for U.S. Supreme Court to Rule on ATF’s Unilateral Bump Stock Ban
Media Mention
February 7, 2023
Bump Stock Ruling Highlights Appellate Dispute: Can Agencies Decide What Is a Crime?
Source: Reuters