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Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Bump Stocks
Bump Stocks: A Legal Loophole No More
On Friday, the Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, devices that allow a semi-automatic rifle to fire shots at nearly the rate of a machine gun without technically converting it to a fully automatic weapon.
What are Bump Stocks?
Bump stocks are firearm accessories that replace the standard stock on a rifle, allowing it to mimic the firing speed of a fully automatic weapon. They harness the rifle's recoil to rapidly fire multiple rounds, exploiting a loophole in the definition of a machine gun under federal law.
The Legal Battle
The ban on bump stocks was imposed by the Trump administration in 2018 in response to the Las Vegas shooting where a gunman used bump stocks to kill 58 people. However, the gun rights group National Rifle Association (NRA) challenged the ban, arguing that bump stocks are not machine guns and therefore not subject to a ban.
The Supreme Court agreed with the NRA, holding that the definition of a machine gun in federal law requires a firearm to fire automatically without any human intervention. Since bump stocks do not completely remove the need for human action, they do not meet this definition and are therefore legal.
Implications of the Ruling
The Supreme Court's decision is a significant victory for gun rights advocates. It will allow the production and sale of bump stocks to resume, potentially increasing the risk of mass shootings in the United States.
Gun control advocates have expressed disappointment with the ruling, arguing that bump stocks make it easier for individuals to inflict mass casualties and should be banned.
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