Supreme Court Strikes Down Bump Stock Ban
Justices Rule Against Lower Courts
June 14, 2024 | Updated 11:41 AM
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that a federal ban on bump stocks is unconstitutional. The 6-3 decision, issued Friday, strikes down a ban that was approved by former President Donald Trump in 2018. The ruling is a victory for gun rights advocates, who argued that the ban violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The Court's decision is based on a technical interpretation of the 1934 National Firearms Act, which defines a machine gun as a weapon that can fire multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger. The Court ruled that bump stocks do not meet this definition because they rely on the shooter's manipulation of the trigger to fire multiple rounds, rather than a mechanical device.
The decision is likely to have a significant impact on the gun control debate in the United States. Bump stocks allow semi-automatic rifles to fire at a rate similar to machine guns. They were used in the mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, in which 58 people were killed.
In the wake of that shooting, the Trump administration banned bump stocks through an executive order. However, the ban was challenged in court, and a federal judge struck it down in 2021. The Supreme Court's ruling upholds the lower court's decision and effectively nullifies the ban.
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