Judge to ATF: Stop making it up as you go along
Arbitrary and capricious: An interesting opinion in which a judge tells the ATF that for something to be a suppressor, it has to actually suppress sound:
A mouse is not an “elephant” solely because it has three characteristics that are common to known elephants: a tail, gray skin, and four legs. A child’s bike is not a “motorcycle” solely because it has three characteristics common to known motorcycles: two rubber tires, handlebars, and a leather seat. And a Bud Light is not “Single-Malt Scotch,” just because it is frequently served in a glass container, contains alcohol, and is available for purchase at a tavern.
And, as the judge noted, one would think that to determine if something is a silencer, ATF probably should measure the sound.
June 7th, 2014 at 4:20 pm
I’ve seen this before.
🙂
June 7th, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Yeah, hadn’t read the opinion though.
June 8th, 2014 at 1:57 am
None of a that matters. What matters is that someone was successfully harassed, incurred expenses, and the rest of us see the trouble one gets into as a member of the gun culture.
June 11th, 2014 at 1:58 am
While in general a great opinion, one part really stuck out at me.
“This illustrates the dangers of a regulatory definition that turns on the subjective purpose of the inventor. In most cases,including this one, a much more useful data point is the device’s actual capabilities.”
While this particular case may not affect it, that doesn’t bode well for the Sig Stabilizing Brace.