By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The National Rifle Association has announced its effort “to intervene” in a Second Amendment Foundation lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ new “arm brace rule” for which SAF recently obtained a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.
NRA announced the effort Wednesday on its website, explaining the move was to obtain injunctive relief for its members to stop the ATF from enforcing its new rule, which totally reversed the agency’s previous position that pistol braces did not convert pistols into short-barreled rifles, making them subject to regulation under the 1934 National Firearms Act. The case is known as SAF, et.al. v. ATF, et. al.
On May 31, U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle confirmed the scope of a preliminary injunction she had issued in the case applied not only to SAF, but its members as well. “The Court confirms that its Preliminary Injunction Order applies to both the Second Amendment Foundation, Inc. and its members.”
“We welcome the NRA’s motion to join in our lawsuit,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb in a Friday morning announcement. “If their motion is granted—and we certainly have no objection—it will mean more American gun owners will enjoy the same protection SAF members were granted under Judge Boyle’s preliminary injunction order. It only makes sense NRA would want the same protection for its members.”
In its news release, NRA explained they are “going to court to obtain preliminary, and ultimately permanent, injunctive relief restraining Defendants from enforcing the ‘Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’’ (the “Final Rule”) against law-abiding NRA members.”
NRA noted in its announcement, “Gun rights groups and the State of Texas are among those who have been granted preliminary injunctive relief from the Final Rule – and now the NRA seeks recognition of the irreparable harm its members also face from the draconian measure.”
SAF is joined in the case by Rainier Arms, LLC and two private citizens, Samuel Walley and William Green. They are represented by attorney Chad Flores at Flores Law in Houston, Texas.
Gottlieb acknowledged this case is far from concluded.
“We’re in this for the long haul, and we intend to win,” Gottlieb said. “SAF has become a recognized leader in Second Amendment litigation since our 2010 Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago. We’re serious in our intent to win back firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time.”
In the wake of Judge Boyle’s May 31 clarification, SAF membership has spiked, Gottlieb said.
“Interest in SAF membership has been simply stunning,” Gottlieb said at the time. “In our 49 years of existence, we have never experienced such a spontaneous organic groundswell of public interest, from all over the country. Not only does this show the importance of fighting these legal battles on behalf of our members, and American gun owners in general, it also underscores the degree of public interest in the arm brace issue. We are both proud and humbled by the surge in memberships from people who see SAF as leading the charge against the ATF’s flip on pistol braces.”
“When Judge Boyle confirmed that our members are protected by the preliminary injunction,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “we were delighted, and obviously, so were the tens of thousands of people who quickly visited our website, causing it the overload. Luckily, that was a temporary problem, and we’re pushing ahead with the case.”
SAF offers several different tiers of memberships which are available at https://www.saf.org/join-saf/. Annual membership is $15, a five-year membership is $50 and a life membership is $150. Membership is effective upon date of receipt. For questions regarding membership, SAF may be contacted at info@saf.org.
