Judge Orders Seized Assault Guns Released

In a major blow to the Bush Administration’s ban on foreign-made assault guns, a federal judge Wednesday ordered the Customs Service to release more than 1,000 semiautomatic rifles seized at an Alabama airport, ruling that the government had no right to bar entry to weapons purchased under valid import permits.

The Alabama judge’s decision overturned the seizure of weapons at one site as part of a nationwide government effort to intercept shipments of any of the 640,000 assault rifles that already had been approved for import but had not yet entered the United States.

Impact of Ruling Uncertain

So far at least 4,000 weapons have been blocked at import points. It was uncertain what effect Wednesday’s ruling will have on the 3,000 or more assault weapons seized elsewhere. U.S. officials declined comment on the case until they can review the judge’s order.

The setback for the government came in the first legal challenge to the sweeping Administration ban.

In a sworn declaration in the case, Stephen Higgins, director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, had warned that “although the number of weapons involved in this (Alabama) case might appear to be insignificant, the overall issue involves the importation of over three-quarters of a million firearms.”

A ruling against the government, he declared, would “undermine” the government’s review of its policy on possession and sale of assault weapons.

The Alabama ruling has no direct effect on another element of the government’s crackdown--a moratorium on issuing additional permits for importing 29 types of assault rifles until the Administration decides whether they are used for legitimate sporting purposes.

But the strongly worded decision by U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. in Birmingham criticized even that provision of the ban, contending that it interferes with the right of Congress to enact laws.

Because the weapons previously had been deemed suitable for importation, the judge argued, the Administration cannot now refuse to grant new permits for them unless Congress amends the nation’s gun control laws.

The order was issued in response to a lawsuit by Gun South Inc., a Trussville, Ala., weapons importer.

The company sought to win the release of 1,100 Austrian-made Steyr-Aug rifles held up late last month at Birmingham airport by Customs Service agents acting under orders from the Treasury Department.

Gun South had received permission to import the weapons earlier this year. While the Steyr-Aug rifles were among the five types of assault guns named in the March 14 moratorium on new imports, the company was told by federal officials that the action would have no effect on weapons for which permits had already been granted.

Gun South already had ordered some 1,100 guns from its Austrian-made manufacturer and was awaiting their delivery. By the time the weapons arrived in Alabama later in the month, however, the government had notified the company of its decision to widen the ban by suspending the permits. On that basis, it ordered the Customs Service to bar the shipment from entering the country.

The Alabama judge issued an injunction barring the government from interfering with “routine delivery” of the 1,100 weapons, which have been stored in a Birmingham warehouse. In a 28-page decision, he contended that the government had no right to interdict weapons “purchased under permits validly issued and valid when acted upon.”

The decision apparently will permit Gun South to import another 3,500 Steyr-Augs that it ordered in mid-March before being informed of the government’s decision to widen the ban by suspending further imports.

The judge declined to rule on the broader question of whether the government had the right to suspend the permits at all. He indicated that weapons ordered by Gun South after it had learned of the government’s decision would not be affected by his ruling.

The ruling has no direct effect on the government’s seizure of at least 3,000 other assault guns that the Customs Service has barred from entering the United States under the temporary moratorium. But the weapons, which arrived in U.S. ports around the country early this month, probably would be permitted to enter the domestic market if other courts follow the precedent set by the Alabama judge.