SCOTUS Declines to Hear Gun Rights Case on Bumpstocks

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Facts

  • On Monday, the US Supreme Court refused to take two cases that challenged a ban on 'bump stocks' - gun attachments designed to allow semi-automatic guns to fire rapidly, in a similar fashion to machine guns.1
  • Bump stocks were banned during President Donald Trump's administration, following a mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 that killed 58 people. The shooter in that tragedy employed the technology, which uses the recoil of a trigger pull to enable a shooter to fire up to hundreds of rounds per minute.2
  • The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) implemented the ban under a 1986 law banning machine guns – including certain accessories – making the possession of a bump stock a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250k fine.2
  • SCOTUS previously declined to block the ban in 2019, and several lower courts have upheld the decision since. The new cases were brought by a Utah gun lobbyist - who had bought a bump stock before the ban took effect - and a collection of gun rights groups led by the Gun Owners of America. The plaintiff's brief argued that a bump stock fails to 'meet either prong of Congress's carefully-crafted and unambiguous definition of a 'machine gun.’”3
  • Although SCOTUS refused to hear the two cases, another gun activist is currently awaiting a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on the legality of bump stocks.1

Sources: 1Restoring America, 2NBC and 3ABC NEWS.

Narratives

  • Right narrative, as provided by Bearingarms. This is a dangerous SCOTUS decision that enables the government to further encroach on second amendment liberties by defining thousands of bump stock owners as felons. This will only embolden the executive branch to pursue its goal of criminalizing all gun ownership.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Independent. Lower courts were correct to leave the ban in place and, together with this SCOTUS decision, Americans are being protected from future massacres akin to the tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas. Dangerous bump stocks, which are correctly categorized by the ATF, will become harder to obtain by criminals and lawful gun users alike.

Predictions