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As-Applied Challenge

Definition

A lawsuit arguing that a law or regulation is unlawful only as applied to a specific person, product, or situation — not that the rule is generally invalid. These challenges are resolved on concrete facts and can leave the rule intact for other applications.

Examples

  • A future lawsuit by a specific manufacturer arguing that ATF wrongly classified their particular product as a regulated firearm, based on that product's specific features, assembly difficulty, and required tools

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