Joint Statement on BATF Litigation
This message will outline the current status and progress of our efforts in the U. S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC.
On Tuesday, January 10. 2006, a hearing was held in the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit regarding our appeal petition. That petition seeks to overturn a District Court finding that ATF has properly and legally classified APCP as an explosive. Both parties filed documents prior to the hearing and those are available for download:
During oral arguments, both parties were questioned by multiple panel members about explosive definitions, criminal and civil penalties for explosive law violations and case citations. Joe Egan, NAR/TRA counsel, did a superb job of presenting our best case in the face of very tough quizzing.
The court now considers both the document filings and oral arguments. No further hearings or document filings are required for the Court to render its opinion. Upon issuing a ruling, the court will publish two documents, an opinion citing the legal basis for their ruling and an order, outlining the steps parties must take to implement their decision.
We do not expect to receive a ruling until sometime in the summer of 2006.
As soon as we have news of the opinion, we will inform our members and post documents when we receive them from the Court.
In the meantime, members need to remember we have pending action in the District Court. That action is contingent upon ATF publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), both the definition of propellant actuated devices, and a 62.5 gram limit for APCP motors. Members who may be monitoring the Federal Register should continue to do so, and alert us to any NPRM publication by ATF.
We also again remind members who either are threatened or receive BATFE enforcement action that they should immediately contact NAR President Mark Bundick via email or at 815-477-0954 or TRA President Ken Good via email or at 412-260-4223 and provide full details of those actions or threats. NAR/TRA counsel will then seek the appropriate relief for members from Judge Walton's court.
As always, we appreciate the comments, input and support of NAR and TRA members in this fight. And, as our case proceeds, we will continue to need your financial support to build on this victory. We urge you to make a donation to the Legal Defense Fund today, in whatever amount you possibly can contribute. Your support and generosity will be recognized and acknowledged, and you'll be able to say "I supported the fight for an unregulated sport rocket hobby."
When we have further developments, we'll report them here and in our publications, as soon as possible.
Mark Bundick, President
National Association of Rocketry
Ken Good, President
Tripoli Rocketry Association
As always, you can send me your comments via email, or mail them to me at
Mark Bundick
423 Sunset Drive
Lakewood, IL 60014-5332