Interesting situation developing that NJOAG Platkin may regret sticking his nose in…
Background:
There’s a case currently in the 5th circuit court of appeals challenging the ATF’s ruling that forced reset triggers (FRT) are machine guns. The case is called National Association for Gun Rights v. Garland:
Back in January, Platkin led a “coalition” of states to file a motion to intervene in the case - He was concerned that Trump’s Executive Order might cause the ATF to stop trying to defend their interpretation on FRT’s and requested the court to allow the “coalition” to intervene (effectively insert themselves as defendants) to continue the battle:
As Trump DOJ Expected to Withdraw Federal Defense, New Jersey Leads More Than a Dozen States in Intervening to Protect Ban on Forced Reset Triggers and Expanded Criminal Background Checks for Gun Purchases
The court denied the “coalition’s” motion to intervene:
The “coalition” filed for reconsideration, with an added request that if they couldn’t intervene, could they at least file an amicus brief:
The court again denied the motion to intervene, but granted the motion to file an amicus brief:
And the “coalition” filed an amicus brief.
Per previous orders in the case the ATF started returning seized FRT’s to some parties.
The “coalition” heard about that and sent a letter (arguably a “motion”, although the “coalition” is not a party in the case) on March 5th to ask the court to stop those FRT returns:
That’s NO BUENO. If you’re not a party to a case you don’t get to make filings requesting the court take action as though you were a party.
Is a paddlin’ possible in Platkin’s immediate future?:
It’s an interesting side note that FRT’s are not explicitly illegal in NJ. Bump stocks and trigger cranks are, but there’s nothing explicitly identifying FRT’s.
