US Supreme Court rejects federal ban on ‘stockpiles’ of guns | Gun violence news

The Supreme Court has ruled that the ban on the use of devices that increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic weapons is unlawful.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declared a federal ban on “backup devices” that allow rapid fire from semi-automatic weapons to be unlawful, striking down another restriction on firearms.

On Friday, by a six-to-three majority, the justices upheld the lower court’s decision, siding with a gun store owner and gun rights activist who had challenged the ban, maintaining that the U.S. agency had incorrectly interpreted the federal law banning machine guns as extending to excess stockpiles.

Conservative judges constituted the majority, with liberal judges dissenting.

The rule was imposed in 2019 by former President Donald Trump’s administration after the devices were used in a 2017 mass shooting that killed 58 people at a country music festival in Las Vegas.

President Joe Biden cited the 2017 incident in condemning the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Today’s decision repeals an important gun safety regulation. Americans should not have to live in fear of this massive devastation,” Biden said in a statement.

“We know that thoughts and prayers are not enough. I am calling on Congress to ban bump stocks, pass an assault weapons ban, and take additional action to save lives – send me the bill and I will sign it immediately.”

For years, the United States has struggled with serious problems with gun violence, including mass shootings. According to the Gun Violence Archive website, there have been 251 mass shootings in the country this year. Last year, 18,854 people died in gun attacks in the United States.

Still, conservative Republicans often oppose government restrictions on access to firearms, arguing that gun ownership is a right enshrined in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said after Friday’s ruling: “The court has spoken and its decision should be respected.”

Leavitt called the former president, who is challenging Biden in the November presidential election, a “fierce defender” of gun rights.

The case centered on how the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, interpreted federal law that defines machine guns as weapons that can “automatically” fire more than one shot “one shot”. trigger function.

“We hold that a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a stock is not a ‘machine gun’ because it cannot fire more than one shot ‘with a single trigger action,'” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote.

“And even if he could, he wouldn’t do it ‘automatically’. “Accordingly, the ATF exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a rule that classifies bump stocks as machine guns.”

Federal law prohibits the sale or possession of machine guns, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The bump stock takes advantage of the semi-automatic’s recoil to allow it to slide back and forth while “hitting” the shooter’s trigger finger, resulting in rapid fire. Federal officials have said the rule is needed to protect public safety in a country facing ongoing gun violence.