2A Newsletter: Week of October 7th!
ATF posts open letter on their new “definition of firearm” final rule
Photo Source: ATF
By now you may have noticed that currently, we are still selling 80 lowers and tooling for them. Well, now we can show you why due to the ATF having published an open letter to all FFL’s; finally making an official statement on when an 80 lower receiver counts as a firearm and when it does not (this actually happened last week but our writer was en route to our new Fort Worth office).
Compared to what we’ve gotten used to over the past year and a half, this letter was quite short - being only seven pages in length, it included multiple images and diagrams which are actually pretty helpful. We’ve included a couple of the main images as they basically cover the entire meaning that the ATF wanted to convey.
Photo Source: ATF
Essentially, an 80 lower on its own is still not considered a firearm. However, through unspeakable dark magic, it becomes a firearm if or when it is sold with any of the following:
- a jig, template, mold, or 'equipment'
- instructions or guides on how to complete it into a 100% firearm
- tools
This is an unprecedented attack on not only the 2nd Amendment, but also the 1st Amendment. If you missed it, the ATF is basically saying that (regardless of paper or digital) instructions or manuals on completing 80%’s are now considered to be the same as firearms.
The letter doesn’t mention any current court cases that are still ongoing but if you’ve seen any of our recent update blogs about those, we’re quite confident that we’ll be coming out of those with a ‘W’ soon.
Federal Court says ATF’s new rule on 80 percents oversteps their authority
Before we interject, don’t take our word for it. See the court’s opinion for yourself on page 6.
As a reminder from the Vanderstok case (which we’re expecting to be included now in that case as plaintiffs as well), the court had actually issued an opinion in early September, “The Final Rule exceeds ATF’s statutory authority under the plain language of the Gun Control Act.”
In the same paragraph it also states that “the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on both claims.” Those claims are referring the points made in the Vanderstock case:
- That the “Final Rule” exceeds ATF’s statutory authority because Congress limited ATF’s authority to “frames and receivers” but the Rule expands that to “readily convertible” parts that turn into frames or receivers.
- The “Final Rule” also unlawfully treats weapon parts kits as firearms.
While it may feel like there’s been a lot of feet dragging in the courts, do you see why we’re cautiously optimistic now?
NY Pays $30k for 3D printed items at gun buyback
Photo Source: AntennaBun(TM) - @kem_regik via Twitter
Here’s a story that will make you laugh out loud and make you wonder why you’re not doing the same exact thing.
Recently, there was a gun buyback event held by a local police department in Utica, New York. Our bro in this story contributed to what New York State Attorney General Leticia James claimed to be a massive success where 296 guns were turned in to the police.
What she didn’t know, but likely does now, was that 177 of those guns were 3D printed including 60 3D-printed drop-in auto sears (DIAS) which give AR-15’s automatic fire capability.
In total, @Kem Regik was able to walk away with $30k of taxpayers’ dollars in the form of prepaid Master and Visa Debit Cards. Those are as good as cash. Job well done sir, gun buybacks are ridiculous and if this is what makes the pro gun control folks wake up… I guess we should all be setting a weekly reminder to look for a local gun buyback.
It’s Time To Register to Vote!
Funny antics aside, it’s easy to forget the most basic and for some, the only way to contribute in the fight to retain our rights and not let the situation degrade even further — voting.
Back in CA, we could register to vote by mail, at the DMV or even do it online. Now that we’re in the great state of Texas, we’re learning it’s largely the same out here too.
The 2022 Midterm Elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8th and it is critical that you all register to vote if you haven’t already. Every seat (that’s 435) in the House of Representatives and 35 of the seats in the Senate will be contested.
Get out and vote, get rid of those who don’t represent your views or values and place those who will in public offices. Don’t complain about the results afterwards if you didn’t participate.
ENJOY OUR NEWSLETTER?
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