Firearms

Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General, et al., v. Micheal Cargill (Filed: 12/26/2023)
Prior to 2018, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) maintained that bump stocks were not machine guns as defined by statute. After the public outrage following the October 1, 2017 Las Vegas shooting which involved bump stocks, the ATF changed its stance, reclassifying bump stocks as machine guns and exposing owners to criminal liability. Michael Cargill surrendered his bump stocks due to this new regulation and filed a lawsuit challenging the ATF regulations, arguing that the ATF exceeded its authority in defining bump stocks as machine guns. The district court ruled in favor of the government and its new definition, but the appeals court reversed this decision. The Supreme Court will now hear this case to determine if a bump stock is a machine gun as defined by U.S. statute.

ACP policy favors enactment of legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, transfer, and subsequent ownership for civilian use of semiautomatic firearms that are designed to increase their rapid killing capacity. In this amicus brief, the interested parties argue that bump stocks are a public health issue and should be defined as machine guns, and present testimonies from physicians who have firsthand knowledge of the deadly effects of bump stocks and semi-automatic weapons.

See additional relevant ACP advocacy in the Firearm Injuries and Deaths section.