O'Melveny's 2018-2019 Pro Bono Review

O’MELVENY PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2018- 2019 29 The Gun Control Collaboration O’Melveny is part of a coalition of major law firms called the Firearms Accountability Counsel Task Force, which is dedicated to making people safer from gun violence. The group looks for avenues to challenge laws that, for example, could compel businesses to permit guns to be carried on their premises. It also argues that the government should release data about the use of firearms in crimes. The coalition, which includes The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, is also considering suing gun manufacturers over their reluctance to implement greater safety technology. Banning Bump Stocks In a major victory for O’Melveny pro bono client the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirmed a recent rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Gun Violence Prevention O’Melveny represents several non-profit organizations trying to stem the epidemic of gun deaths in the US, and is part of a coalition examining how litigation can be used to address gun violence. (ATF) banning bump stocks. The ban requires owners to turn in or destroy the devices, which convert otherwise legal weapons into illegal machine guns. O’Melveny drafted the Giffords Law Center’s amicus brief in the case, which had been brought by bump stock owners and advocates who claimed, among other things, that the rule exceeded the scope of the ATF’s authority. But the court found that, in adopting the ban, the ATF had acted in accordance with the National Firearms, Gun Control, and Firearm Owners Protection acts—the same position the Giffords Law Center had taken in its brief. The rule was adopted in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, in which a gunman armed with bump stock–enhanced semiautomatic weapons killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more. The US Court of Appeals decision upholds a lower court ruling that denied a request by opponents of the rule for a preliminary injunction halting the ban. The US Supreme Court, in two different cases, also rejected stay requests from bump stock advocates. O’Melveny is part of the Firearms Accountability Counsel Task Force, a coalition of major law firms dedicated to making people safer from gun violence.