United States District Court

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

SHERMAN DIVISION

BLAKE J. WATTERSON,

Plaintiff,

v.

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, 

FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES et al., 

Defendants.

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Civil Action No. 4:23-cv-00080

Judge Mazzant

ORDER

Pending before the Court are Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. #6), 

Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction 

(Dkt. #7), Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for Expedited Consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for 

Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #8), and 

Defendants’ Motion for an Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 

U.S.C. § 705 or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #11). Having considered the 

motions and relevant pleadings, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for Expedited 

Consideration of Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, Alternatively, for a 

Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #8) should be GRANTED in part, and Defendants’ Motion for an 

Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, 

Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #11) should be GRANTED. 

Though the Court finds that Plaintiff has shown his motion should be considered on an 

expedited basis, the Court will not grant Plaintiff’s proposed deadline of March 2, 2023, for the 

Court to issue an order on these matters. The compliance date for the relevant federal rule is not 

until May 31, 2023, so the March 2 deadline proposed by Plaintiff seems unnecessary here. See 

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“Factoring Criteria for Firearms with ‘Attached Stabilizing Braces,’” 88 Fed. Reg. 6,478 (Jan. 31, 

2023) (stating a compliance date of May 31, 2023). While it is true that the rule also provides that 

the “ATF may enforce the [National Firearms Act] against any person . . . any time after the 

publication date of this rule,” the rule also states that the Department of Justice “will wait to 

actually initiate such enforcement actions for at least 60 days from the publication of the rule in 

the Federal Register.” 88 Fed. Reg. at 6,481. Notably, the publication date for the rule was January 

31, 2023, which means the Department of Justice will not actually enforce the relevant regulation 

until April 1, 2023. See 88 Fed. Reg. at 6,478. Therefore, in order to give proper consideration to 

this matter, the Court will decide Plaintiff’s motion on an expedited basis but will set the deadline 

for the relevant order to be March 24, 2023. Relatedly, the Court finds that Defendants should be 

granted their requested extension to file a response to Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. 

§ 705 or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction. If the Court finds a hearing should be set in 

this matter, it will notify the parties at the appropriate time. 

It is therefore ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Emergency Motion for Expedited Consideration 

of Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary 

Injunction (Dkt. #8) is hereby GRANTED in part. It is further ORDERED that Defendants’ 

Motion for an Extension of Time to Respond to Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 

or, Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #11) is hereby GRANTED.

The Court sets the following briefing schedule:

• Defendants’ response is due on or before February 23, 2023;

• Plaintiff’s reply is due on or before February 27, 2023; and

• Defendants’ sur-reply is due on or before March 3, 2023.

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The Court will issue an order on Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief Under 5 U.S.C. § 705 or, 

Alternatively, for a Preliminary Injunction (Dkt. #8) on or before March 24, 2023. If the Court 

finds a hearing is necessary to decide Plaintiff’s motion, it will notify the parties. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

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