United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Co.

United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Company, 504 U.S. 505 (1992), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.

United States, Petitioner v. Thompson-Center Arms Company
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 13, 1992 Decided June 8, 1992
Full case name	United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Company
Citations	504 U.S. 505 (more) 112 S. Ct. 2102; 119 L. Ed. 2d 308; 1992 U.S. LEXIS 3391; 60 U.S.L.W. 4480; 69 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 1493; 92 Cal. Daily Op. Service 4793; 92 Daily Journal DAR 7605; 6 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 346
Case history
Prior	Thompson/Ctr. Arms Co. v. United States, 19 Cl. Ct. 725 (1990); reversed, 924 F.2d 1041 (Fed. Cir. 1991); cert. granted, 502 U.S. 807 (1991).
Holding
The Court held that the carbine conversion kit did not constitute a short barreled rifle, primarily because the kit contained both the stock and the 16-inch barrel.
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices Byron White · Harry Blackmun John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Case opinions
Plurality	Souter, joined by Rehnquist, O'Connor
Concurrence	Scalia (in judgment), joined by Thomas
Dissent	White, joined by Blackmun, Stevens, Kennedy
Dissent	Stevens
Laws applied
National Firearms Act

Background

The legal dispute in United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Company arose when officials from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms contacted Thompson Center Arms informing them that the kit of the Contender Pistol that included a stock and a 16-inch (410 mm) barrel constituted a short-barreled rifle under the National Firearms Act.

Arguments

The U.S. Government's argument centered on the analogy of a disassembled bicycle still being a bicycle.

Stephen Halbrook argued on behalf of Thompson Center Arms and stated that the weapon would have to be assembled with both the stock and the 10-inch (250 mm) barrel attached for it to be a short-barreled rifle.

Decision

The court ruled in Thompson Center Arms' favor in that the carbine conversion kit did not constitute a short-barreled rifle, primarily because the kit contained both the stock and the 16-inch barrel.

Justice Scalia also noted that there is a warning carved on the stock telling the user to not attach the stock to the receiver when the 10-inch barrel is attached to the receiver or vice versa.

This circumstance caused the court to apply the rule of lenity since the NFA carries criminal penalties with it. This meant that ambiguous statutes are interpreted against the government.

See also

• Staples v. United States, illegal possession of a machine gun under U.S. federal law
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 504
• List of United States Supreme Court cases
• Lists of United States Supreme Court cases by volume
• List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Rehnquist Court

External links

• Text of United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Co., 504 U.S. 505 (1992) is available from: Cornell Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)
• Thompson Center Arms
• Stephen Halbrook's Page on the case
• Full Text of Volume 504 of the United States Reports at www.supremecourt.gov