The National Rifle Association joined the Second Amendment Foundation, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of Patrick “Tate” Adamiak.
Adamiak is a former U.S. Navy sailor who served honorably for over a decade and had no prior criminal history. He was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for alleged violations of the National Firearms Act based on the possession of nonfunctional, cut-up, destroyed relics. The items had been rendered inoperable or were incomplete parts that could not fire, yet prosecutors treated them as fully functional regulated firearms under an expansive interpretation of the statute.
Our amicus brief argues that Adamiak’s prosecution reflects a fundamental misapplication of both the NFA and the Second Amendment, emphasizing that the government cannot simultaneously treat inert, cut-up parts and nonfunctional items as regulated “firearms” while avoiding the Bruen test that governs firearm regulations. If such items are deemed firearms, the brief contends, then courts must apply the historical analysis required under Bruen—something the lower courts refused to do by improperly dismissing Adamiak’s Second Amendment claims. More broadly, the brief warns that lower courts are distorting Supreme Court precedent by applying an overly restrictive “plain text” analysis to sidestep meaningful constitutional review, and urges the Court to intervene to reaffirm its Second Amendment framework and prevent further miscarriages of justice.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.
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