06/14/2024

SCOTUS Strikes Down Ban on Bump Stock Devices

The court ruled in favor of weaker gun laws by a 6-3 vote

A divided Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on Friday struck down a federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets a minute, upending one of the few recent efforts by the federal government to address the nation’s epidemic of gun violence.

The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines continues the conservative majority’s record of limiting gun restrictions, most notably in a landmark 2022 ruling that has made it easier to challenge modern gun control laws. Friday’s ruling did not implicate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but rather the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) interpretation of a law restricting machine guns.

In its ruling, the majority said bump stocks do not qualify as machine guns under a 1986 law that barred civilians from owning new versions of the weapons. The Trump administration interpreted the law to ban bump stocks in 2018, after a gunman used the devices to open fire on a Las Vegas music festival, ultimately killing 60 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.