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NAR/TRA Joint Statement on BATFE Litigation, dated January 18, 2006 |
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2006 Archived News by TRA/NAR Joint Task Force
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006 |
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WORLD WIDE WEB — Below is a Joint Statement on BATF Litigation January 18, 2006 submitted by TRA and NAR.
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 on the TRA and NAR websites:
Appellant's (NAR / TRA) Brief Appellee's (BATFE) Brief Appellant's (NAR / TRA) Reply Brief
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 appreciate your strong financial support for this important legal work. We hope you can continue to consider donating to the legal fund in whatever amount you possibly can. 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."
As we have further developments, we'll continue to report them here and in our publications.
Ken Good, President Tripoli Rocketry Association
Mark Bundick, President National Association of Rocketry |
