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The Supreme Court lifts the ban on wholesale weapons sales

Posted on by darion

Top line

The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal ban on bump stocks that allow firearms to mimic automatic rifles, thwarting one of the few major federal gun control moves made in recent years following scrutiny of the devices following the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Key facts

The justices ruled 6-3 that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority when it ruled that bump stocks were classified as “machine guns” and therefore could be banned under federal law.

Firearm owner Michael Cargill asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the stock is classified as a “machine gun” under federal law after the ATF classified it as such in 2018 – banning the stock after it was used in a fatal mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017

Stocks are devices that replace the stock of a semi-automatic rifle with a sliding stock and trigger guard, which means that when the shooter pulls the trigger, the weapon’s recoil and sliding stock move the gun back and forth repeatedly. “tapping” the trigger with the shooter’s finger at high speed so that shots can be fired faster – and imitating the action of a machine gun.

This story is current and will be updated.

Big number

60. That’s how many people died in the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas in which a gun was used when a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, and more than 850 people were injured. This massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in US history.

Key background

The slip-ups marked a rare case in which both sides in the conflict approved gun control measures after the Las Vegas shooting, with the devices coming under scrutiny in the wake of the tragedy. Even some Republicans have advocated limiting devices. Then-President Donald Trump called on the Justice Department to restrict them in 2018, and the National Rifle Association initially supported efforts to regulate stockpiles, although it now supports Cargill in the Supreme Court. The ATF has long classified bump stocks as legal under federal law because machine guns are defined as firearms that can fire “more than one shot automatically, without manual reloading, by a single trigger function.” Because stocks do not fire automatically and the shooter’s finger repeatedly “strikes” the trigger, the bureau classified stocks as legal devices under federal law before changing course in 2018. The case is one of several high-profile firearms rights cases to reach the Supreme Court in recent years, with the high court issuing a drastic ruling in 2022 that struck down New York’s handgun carry law and made it more difficult for lawmakers to pass control laws weapons. The court is also considering this term whether perpetrators of domestic violence should be allowed to possess firearms in the case of USA v. Rahimi.

A surprising fact

Stock manufacturers initially claimed their devices were created to help people with disabilities who might otherwise have difficulty firing firearms, as the Associated Press noted in 2017 and the ATF noted in a 2010 letter to the manufacturer of Slide Fire Solutions said the company’s product “aims to help people with limited mobility.” Makers of bulge stocks, however, made other claims to gun specialist publications, but Slide Fire inventor Jeremiah Cottle told outlets that he created the stocks for other gun enthusiasts who wanted to shoot with more power. Bump stocks are for “people like me (who)

Further reading

ForbesThe Supreme Court will consider whether gun stockpiles are now legal – here’s what you need to knowBy AlisonDurkee