The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled oral arguments for Tate's case in mid-September 2025. While this represents yet another multi-month delay that will extend Tate's time in prison to nearly 36 months, it also provides an opportunity for his attorney, Matthew Larosiere, to clarify the issues at hand for the panel of judges, who have been subjected to the prosecution's misleading assertions.
After six months of uncertainty awaiting the Supreme Court's decision in Vanderstok v. Bondi, the ruling has finally been issued. Unfortunately, the scope of this ruling is much narrower than anticipated, addressing only a specific type of firearm parts kit that was not relevant to Tate's case. While this decision should not directly impact the case-either positively or negatively-it does affirm a crucial point that the prosecutors have yet to acknowledge. Specifically, for a gun part to be classified as a firearm receiver, four unambiguous features must be present. None of Tate's items possess all of these required features, which means that none of them qualify as illegal firearms. This situation highlights the disconnect between the prosecutors seeking to keep Tate incarcerated and the reality of the law. The prosecution appears to be knowingly and maliciously attempting to mislead the court by asserting that unregulated parts are equivalent to machine guns.
Tate remains imprisoned within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a system notorious for its harsh and unforgiving conditions. For 28 months and counting, he has been behind bars—despite never breaking a single law.
Currently, Tate is navigating the direct appeal process in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, a slow and grueling journey hindered by the overburdened federal court system. Months pass between court filings and motions, leaving Tate in legal limbo with no clear resolution in sight.
All appeal briefs were filed in August 2024, but his case has been placed on hold pending a Supreme Court decision expected in June 2025 (Vanderstok v. Garland). This case—where the ATF has already lost at both the district and circuit court levels—will determine the critical issue at the heart of Tate's conviction: when an item legally becomes a firearm.
For decades, the ATF has unilaterally reinterpreted gun laws, overstepping its authority to regulate as it sees fit. Now, we place our trust in the Supreme Court to uphold the lower courts' rulings and finally put an end to the ATF’s unlawful overreach.
The circumstances of Tate’s case have taken the most devastating turn for the worst. On Friday, October 21, 2022, Tate was convicted of five felony charges and had his bond revoked. He was taken away after a sham of a trial where the Assistant U.S. Attorney showed the jury a barrage of evidence of legal items that weren’t even the subject of any charges.
The prosecution attacked his character and confused the jury by showing endless images of his legal inventory—simply because they didn’t have the evidence to support their case. Unfortunately, the jury bought it.
Additionally, a number of extremely pertinent Supreme Court decisions were not allowed to be considered in jury deliberation. These rulings would have had immense impact on how the jury considered the facts and the law surrounding these charges.
Tate’s trial was a seemingly endless line of ATF “experts” contradicting each other, engaging in character smearing, and featuring a shameful display from their star witness—a convicted felon who lied repeatedly on the stand. It was, in short, a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
And now, the battle for an appeal begins. Tate desperately needs your help now more than ever because he doesn’t even have the freedom to fight for his own justice.
This conviction is yet another display of the ATF’s unconstitutional overreach and infringement upon law-abiding citizens’ constitutional rights. If you believe, as we do, that our constitutional rights are unalienable and should never be infringed upon by the government, then please help us in this fight moving forward.
As always, no donation is too small—every cent will go towards legal fees. If there is any excess, it will be donated to a pro-Second Amendment organization.
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