02-04-2023, 08:16 PM
LRRPF52 Wrote:Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the ATF in the 5th Circuit.
A veterans group (WILL), Firearms Policy Council, and Texas Public Policy Foundation have all filed suit.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polic...gun-owners
All well and good regarding the law suits. However, as noted in the video below (GOP House lawmakers speaking in opposition to the ATF rule), Rep. Thomas Massie R-KY recollected a meeting that he had with Justice Scalia during the Obama Presidency (see 18:38 - 21:56 video time stamp). Rep. Massie paraphrased what Justice Scalia said during a breakfast meeting with GOP House Representatives who were complaining about President Obama, specifically regarding a lack of Constitutional balance of government. Justice Scalia said (as paraphrased by Rep. Massie): "This is not my job to referee fights between you and the Executive Branch." In a cloaked way of expressing a remedy, Justice Scalia said (as again paraphrased by Rep. Massie), "You are funding everything you complain about."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ncSq6dINE
A significant concern here is that the Courts may use the Scalia lens and view this issue in need of a legislative remedy; not a Judicial remedy. Here, ATF, through the DOJ, is claiming that the Rule out of necessity more narrowly defines what constitutes a "rifle", because pistol braces have been used as a workaround the NFA (existing law). This is where it looks like the Rule has merit. It's not creating new law but clarifying existing law (the NFA) because pistol braces are being used by millions of non-handicapped individuals to shoulder "pistols" beyond what the pistol brace was intended for.
But, as mentioned in an earlier post, the first 6 years of the George W. Bush Presidency and the first 2 years of the Trump Presidency, where the GOP had the trifecta majority, could have put many gun and suppressor issues to bed once and for all. I believe that is what Justice Scalia was referring to along with funding cuts. Although, for the latter, the Dems still control the Senate.