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Should it be legal to own bump stocks?
- Yes
- No
- Unsure
In their 6-3 ruling Friday, June 14, with conservatives in the majority, the high court sided with a Texas gun store owner who surrendered his bump stocks after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reclassified the devices as machine guns in 2018. He later sued to get them back.
The ATF’s regulation, issued under the Trump administration with his full support, came about after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, during which the gunman used bump stock-equipped firearms to kill 60 people.
Writing in his majority opinion Friday, Justice Clarence Thomas said a bump stock does not convert a semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun “any more than a shooter with a lightning-fast trigger finger does.”
“Even with a bump stock, a semiautomatic rifle will fire only one shot for every ‘function of the trigger,’” he wrote.
In a statement following the ruling, President Joe Biden chided the court’s decision, saying it “strikes down an important gun safety regulation." He called on Congress to pass legislation banning bump stocks.
“Americans should not have to live in fear of this mass devastation,” he said. “We know thoughts and prayers are not enough. I call on Congress to ban bump stocks, pass an assault weapon ban, and take additional action to save lives – send me a bill and I will sign it immediately.”
In New York, both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James also criticized the decision, with Hochul noting that the ruling came exactly one month after the state marked the anniversary of the Buffalo mass shooting, which claimed 10 lives.
“Exactly one month ago, we marked the anniversary of the deadly Buffalo massacre — the horrific day when a hate-fueled gunman murdered ten of our neighbors, using a bump stock to transform his firearm into an even deadlier weapon. Today's Supreme Court decision on bump stocks is a sad day for the families who have lost loved ones in mass shootings and for people across America,” Hochul said.
The governor went on to say that she will continue to enforce a 2020 law banning bump stocks in New York.
James blasted the Supreme Court’s ruling on X, formerly Twitter, saying it “jeopardizes the safety of every community in this country.”
Democrats weren’t the only ones miffed by the ruling; New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Long Island Republican whose 4th District represents central and southern Nassau County, called the decision “a shame” on X.
“President Trump’s ban on bump-stocks was a sensible and effective approach to gun safety. It’s a shame to see it overturned,” D’Esposito said.
“I’ll continue to work in a bipartisan fashion to find ways to curb violence while protecting our constitutional rights."
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