Federal prosecutors in Houston dropped charges against a man accused of owning an outlawed bump stock after a retired ATF agent planned to testify the Executive Order banning it was baseless.
Senior U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller upheld three charges against Ajay Dhingra but dropped the charge of owning a prohibited bump stock. Ajay Dhingra was charged in 2019 with four federal firearms violations, including “possession of a machine gun” after agents found a Colt semiautomatic rifle with an attached bump stock.
A bump stock is a device added to a firearm that increases the rate of fire by using the gun’s recoil to pull the trigger an additional time. Anti-gun activists wanted the devices banned, falsely claiming they turned semi-automatic rifles into “machine gun,” and asked then-President Barack Obama to ban them by Executive Order.
Obama refused to ban bump stocks, pointing out they did not meet the legal definition of an automatic firearm because a bump stock still pulls the trigger for each shot. Obama told his fellow anti-gun activists that while he opposed bump stocks, any ban would have to go through Congress as a change to federal firearms law because current law did not allow them to be prohibited.
President Donald Trump, however, imposed the ban through an Executive Order, despite the fact that bump stocks are legal to purchase and violate no laws. Under Trump’s ban, owners of the legally-purchased devices had 90 days to surrender them to federal agents for confiscation.
Ajay Dhingra was charged in 2019 with four federal firearms violations, including possession of a banned bump stock. But prosecutors dropped the bump stock charge when Dhingra’s attorneys planned to call as a witness a former federal agent who could expose the ban itself as legally unfounded.
“Rick Vasquez, a retired ATF agent and firearms expert, would have told the court the bump stock did not meet the statutory definition of a machine gun. The prosecution dismissed the case, he said, because the government couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt the bump stock was a machine gun,” MSN reports.
It is believed Dhingra is the first person charged with violating the Trump gun ban.
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AmericanActionNews.com.
Michael Brigham
Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
i dont agree with all he does but he still has done more for this country than las 4 demencrates has done totaly
I’m glad your being honest about Trump. I voted for him because I understand him well. I have no filter and try really hard not to hurt feelings sometimes. But if you look back you’ll see that the left starting attacking him the moment he announced he was running. He’s the type where he rarely attacks without being attacked first. He has his moments where he sometimes wont let go but that’s because he feels he’s not being heard and feels he needs to get his side out. I hope you understand what I just typed regarding Trump. But thank you for your positive comment, they’re far and few between from the left. I just hope if Trump loses that the blue dog Dems will put the squad in their place because it’s not a good situation if they’re let loose to run our country. We all know Biden isn’t going to last long because god bless him he’s ill and not sure what’s wrong with him.
Mr. Biden appears to be suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.
I think your right but I’ve never had any experience with it and have never read anything. I just wish his wife would have his best interest at heart and take him home and give him the life he needs now and not the circus he’s having to live in..
I have had experience with people My father in law had it and a very good friends mother in law had it and it is a bad thing some it attacks slowly and others fast but any way you lose your memory and abilty to think and do any thing sort of but I think Biden is just old age taking over him and his mind
And obama disease.
Yet dems voted biden as potUS & his qualifications are “0” ! Along with all biden’s potential appointed libtards that will destroy the U.S.A.’s Constitutional Freedom, Rights and National Security ! Socialism is the 1st step to a dictatorship and tyranny crimes ! People that defy truth are warped dems that cannot accept facts that Trump’s #1 priority is harshly relayed to U.S. Citizens in Constitutional Freedom & Rights ! The world is loaded with tyrant dictators & harsh elimination of dictators is mandatory ! Obviously proven crimes declares biden & his cronies are evil wannabe dictators ! The 2020 election is a fraud created dem crime after proven high treason justice is served !
come on youll now what it is if biden gets sick or goes down who becomes the president (you guessed it kamala H) so then we would finally have a woman as president and of a different nationally. that is all pelosi and clinton want is to show that you cant dismiss a nasty woman oh then i do believe that pelosi will be in there pretty close to the top since she is third in line now GOD LOVE US ALL COULD BE A VERY BUMPY ROAD AHEAD
I am not a Kamala supporter, but I have to correct you on one thing. She is not of a different nationally(?). I have never seen any thing that shows that she is anything other than a US citizen born in the US.
It seems everyone is always looking for simple solutions in, a complicated world.
That said, the simplest solution would be to Ban the BATFE, period.
Like every other “Federal” alphabet soup agency The BATFE (ATF) is a mess. It cares not for the rights of citizens, oversteps it’s authority and it totally un-constitutional.
The 2nd amendment does not have any exception granting a government agency the authority to do what legislatures and elected officials can not.
The BATFE is nothing more than a government sponsored organized crime syndicate.
By instituting rules which have the effect of law the BATFE enables criminals and disables law abiding citizens.
There is only one constitutional gun lay and that is the 2nd Amendment. All other gun laws have no legal standing and are just opinions made up by 19/20th century politicians, black robed nitwits and bureaucrats. Nowhere in the Constitution are they given the right at any level to alter a constitutional amendment to suit themselves.
. . . it seems as if the most difficult 3 words to understand in the American culture is “SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED !”
. . it’s almost as if they aren’t paying attention !
Bro, “shall not be infringed” <—— count the number of words again, and this time do better.
You do not need a bump stock to use your AR-15 style rifle as a fully automatic No change to it at all just procedure. Easily done.
In Nam I actually most of time like to fire semi-auto anyway. More acurate and didn’t burn so much ammo. I believe if the right people would explain to Trump about all the things about bump stocks, red tag laws, and etc. I think that he would see what most gun owners would say about it. My state governor won’t let them pass the red tag law in this state. It would hurt more people than help anyone. Next door neighbor get mad at someone and claim some thing about someone and with no warrant or anything they would come and take your guns falsely. Even our great president Trump might get a couple of things wrong. Trump 21-24
Thanks for you,r service. 66/94 Army
Liberals riot claiming they want ” Change ” the when elections come . They continue to elect the same Politicians . Some for 20 years , some for 30 , some for even 40 years . Someone needs to tell them , there will never be change when you continue to elect the same people.