SIG’s MPX (Photo: SIG)
While it’s not a fully functional suppressor, it’s basically close enough said a federal judge ruling in SIG Sauer’s lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which accused the agency of acting in “an arbitrary and capricious manner” when it labeled the muzzle brake device on SIG’s MPX a silencer.
“[T]he ATF acted rationally in concluding that SIG Sauer intended the baffle core to be used only as a silencer part because the agency pointed to substantial evidence in the record to support its determination,” said New Hampshire District Judge Paul Barbadoro, in a summary Judgment last Thursday.
Barbadoro sided with the ATF’s argument, noting that the device on the end of the MPX is essentially the internal component for a suppressor. By attaching a sleeve, the “muzzle brake” then acts just like a suppressor.
“[T]he ATF was presented with conflicting evidence as to whether SIG Sauer intended the baffle core to be used only as a silencer,” he said. “It considered the relevant evidence using the correct legal standard and came to a rational conclusion based upon its expertise. No more is required to sustain its decision.”
SIG filed the lawsuit back in April of 2014. Both parties presented arguments back in July of this year.
QUOTE “While it’s not a fully functional suppressor, it’s basically close enough said a federal judge”
So ANYTHING that quiets the shot is close enough to be a suppressor!?!? (That is IF this even made the gun any quieter!)
The ATF has no business restricting a SAFETY device anyway, in fact they should be mandating that people have them. In EVERY other instance ear damaging noise is regulated by law….except firearms. It’s crazy!
The definition of a silencer by law goes something like this “any device that is part of, or able to be mounted to any firearm that lowers the firearms decibel level by ( 1 ) decibel or more is illegal. Unless you file paperwork, pay a couple hundred dollars to the government to waste somewhere, and wait as much as a year to get the approval to own that silencer.
This is also a law pertaining to air rifles / air handguns that have some device either built in during manufacturing, or add on device. I have seen this first hand myself. This ban on silencers needs to be scrapped. There are lots of online stores selling all kinds of adaptors under a huge variety of names or acronyms. Most are described by the makers as legal under the law. However, many people find out differently…
Appeal the stupidity of the Judge and O’ball-sack’s- ATF.
So now if it looks like a silencer or suppressor, it must be one? The government gets more and more ridiculous everyday with ruling after ruling and they one small bit at a time, take away rights while you are asleep at the wheel losing them! ATF should be disbanded and the second amendment should be reinstated in all it’s full meaning, all these restrictions are just piece by piece, sooner or later, going to be the end of our America that stands on the corner stone of our freedoms, Our Constitution! When will the law abiding stand up and Demand that our government enforce the laws we have instead of making up more and more and or supposedly, clarifying what they mean to take away the freedoms of the many to try and punish a few? Name any law that has ever prevented a crime!
Sig Sauer should have moved from the north east area to a more gun friendly part of the country long ago. That way the court in which this lawsuit was filed would have been less inclined to find against the gun manufacturer.
Give it up Sig…..you lost
You mean the federal government sided with the federal government, and placed further restrictions on what types of firearms the people can own? I just don’t believe it.