Back in May, I first wrote about the possibility that a new ruling could open the floodgates for trusts to register new machine guns. On September 11th, that possibility became fact when the ATF approved — and then immediately rescinded — a Form 1 for a brand new machine gun for civilian ownership. Now it looks like a couple attorneys are filing suit against the ATF, trying to use this ruling as leverage to overturn some or all of the provisions of the National Firearms Act . . .
From the GoFundMe campaign supporting one of the lawsuits:
My name is Stephen Stamboulieh. I am an attorney in Mississippi that has tirelessly worked to further our 2nd Amendment rights.
Now, my sights are set on 18 USC sec 922(o). This is known as the machinegun ban. I don’t believe this is constitutional in light of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Likewise, the National Firearms Act (“NFA”), which taxes the making and transferring of Title II weapons (machineguns, suppressors, short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns, etc) is ripe to be attacked on Second Amendment grounds.
We have the avenue to attack both the machinegun ban and the NFA with the BATFE’s recent approval of a number of Form 1s. I have a number of clients that I will be filing a lawsuit on behalf of to seek to overturn the ban and the NFA in different states.
This will be expensive. I am in the process of collecting donations to offset the legal fees in this case. If you are interested in assisting, please donate. No donation is too small. These lawsuits will be funded strictly off donations. Unlike the government, we do not have an unlimited war chest to fund this. That is where the grass roots come into play. We can do this, but we need your help!
At the time of writing, the legal fund is up to $18,000 in donations.
Filing suit against the ATF seems to be all the rage these days. From Ares Armor to SIG SAUER, now a rag-tag group of People of the Gun on the internet, thanks to the recent Supreme Court cases there’s civil rights blood in the water and everyone wants in on it. I’m not sure just how far these legal challenges to the ATF will go, but it’s damn fun to watch from the sidelines.