The Second Amendment Foundation and Defense Distributed today filed briefs in federal court in Texas supporting their motions for a preliminary injunction and summary judgment in VanDerStok v. Garland which challenges the ATF’s final rule on unfinished gun receivers and parts kits.
The brief supporting SAF’s summary judgment motion may be read here. The SAF brief supporting the motion for a preliminary injunction may be read here.
The briefs were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. The case was initially brought by two Texas residents, a retailer and manufacturer. SAF and Defense Distributed intervened and contend the rule was adopted in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Named as defendants are Attorney General Merrick Garland, Steven Dettelbach, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of Justice.
“Today’s briefs support our motions for the injunction and summary judgment because it is clear the government agencies violated the APA when they promulgated the final rule with insufficient considerations,” SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb explained. “They failed to consider factors and data in the wake of the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Bruen, and instead relied on factors and data the high court deemed to be constitutionally improper.
“The Final Rule,” he stated, “is arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of bureaucratic discretion. It doesn’t appear that government agencies even attempted to consider the correct Second Amendment factors and data before creating their Final Rule, which is not compliant with Bruen, which requires such rules to be consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation. Essentially, their Final Rule is unconstitutional and must be set aside.”
SAF and Defense Distributed are represented in both motions by Houston attorney Chad Flores with Beck Redden LLP.
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