The Highest Court in the land has been busy lately. Dozens of big rulings are being handed down.
And now the U.S. Supreme Court has taken on Donald Trump with this utterly game-changing ruling.
Supreme Court Upholds Rights of Gun Owners in Bump Stock Ruling
In a significant decision on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bump stocks do not convert semi-automatic firearms into automatic weapons, thereby nullifying a federal rule that had banned bump stocks. The 6-3 decision, penned by Justice Clarence Thomas, asserts that the statutory definition of a “machinegun” does not encompass semi-automatic firearms equipped with bump stocks.
Justice Thomas clarified the legal distinctions by stating, “Congress has long restricted access to ‘machineguns,’ defined by the ability to ‘shoot, automatically more than one shot … by a single function of the trigger.'” He further emphasized that semi-automatic firearms, which require the shooter to reengage the trigger for each shot, do not fall under this definition. The central question was whether a bump stock, an accessory for a semi-automatic rifle that allows the shooter to reengage the trigger rapidly, transforms the rifle into a “machinegun.” The Court concluded that it does not.
The case, Garland v. Cargill, examined whether bump stocks could be classified as “machineguns” under federal law due to their design, which some argued allows a semi-automatic weapon to fire multiple shots automatically with a single trigger function.
However, the Court’s majority found that bump stocks do not fit this definition since a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a bump stock does not fire more than one shot per trigger pull. “We hold that a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a ‘machinegun’ because it cannot fire more than one shot ‘by a single function of the trigger.’ And, even if it could, it would not do so ‘automatically,'” Thomas wrote.
Justice Thomas criticized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for overstepping its authority by issuing a rule that classified bump stocks as machineguns. “ATF therefore exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a Rule that classifies bump stocks as machineguns,” he said. This ruling overturns the ATF’s 2017 interpretive rule, which was issued in response to the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas that year.
“This tragedy created tremendous political pressure to outlaw bump stocks nationwide. Within days, Members of Congress proposed bills to ban bump stocks and other devices ‘designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle,’” Thomas noted in his opinion. However, he argued that the ATF exceeded its statutory authority in implementing the ban.
The ruling was met with a dissenting opinion from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who argued that the decision undermines the intent of Congress’s definition of “machinegun.” She likened the function of bump-stock-equipped rifles to that of machineguns, stating, “When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck. A bump-stock-equipped semi-automatic rifle fires ‘automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.’ Because I, like Congress, call that a machinegun, I respectfully dissent.”
Michael Cargill, the plaintiff and owner of Central Texas Gun Works, hailed the ruling as a victory for constitutional rights. Cargill, an Army veteran, had sued the government after being forced to surrender several bump stocks under the ATF’s rule. “Over five years ago I swore I would defend the Constitution of the United States, even if I was the only plaintiff in the case. I did just that,” Cargill said.
Mark Chenoweth, president of the New Civil Liberties Alliance and Cargill’s attorney, praised the decision, stating it vindicated their stance that the ATF lacked the authority to enact such a ban without congressional approval.
“The statute Congress passed did not ban bump stocks, and ATF does not have the power to do so on its own,” Chenoweth said, highlighting the importance of legislative authority. “This result is completely consistent with the Constitution’s assignment of all legislative power to Congress. Any scare-mongering by bump-stock opponents should be directed at Congress, not the Court, which faithfully applied the statute in front of it.”
President Biden criticized the ruling, expressing concern over public safety. He urged Congress to ban bump stocks and “assault” weapons to prevent future tragedies similar to the Las Vegas massacre. “Americans should not have to live in fear of this mass devastation,” he said, referring to the 2017 Las Vegas massacre. The ATF estimated that over 500,000 bump stocks were in circulation before the ban, which required them to be turned in or destroyed.
The Supreme Court’s decision reinforces the constitutional limits on regulatory agencies, ensuring that significant changes in firearm regulation come from Congress rather than executive interpretation. This ruling underscores the importance of adhering to the precise language of statutes and preserving the legislative process in shaping firearm laws.
Real gun experts, like YouTuber and gun engineer and enthusiast Brandon Herrera, took to Twitter to praise the U.S. Supreme Court for the ruling acknowledging that bump stocks simply do not turn guns into machine guns and therefore fall under regulations that apply to real machine guns.
Today the Supreme Court ruled what anyone who could read the law already knew.
Bump Stocks are not Machine Guns 🔥
— Brandon Herrera (@TheAKGuy) June 14, 2024
Naturally, the radical Left lost their minds on this issue. Nancy Pelosi outright lied when she took to Twitter in the wake of the ruling to say that “bump stocks were designed for mass killing.” That is so patently false, it’s unbelievable she actually said this, but she did.
Bump stocks were designed for mass killing – and they have no place on our streets.
By reversing the ban on these deadly devices, the Supreme Court ruled to make our neighborhoods less safe.
Democrats will never rest until the job is done to stop the scourge of gun violence.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 14, 2024
Conservative Column will keep you updated on any major U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
