Supreme Court to hear case on ATF rule banning bump stocks

Supreme Court bump stocks overview: 

• Who: The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a case from the federal government on whether the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) can ban bump stocks. 
• Why: An appeals court ruled that the ATF can’t ban bump stocks because they do not qualify as machine guns, Law360 reported.
• Where: The Supreme Court bump stocks case will be heard in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear a case from the federal government on whether the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) can institute a bump stock ban after an appeals court ruled the ATF cannot ban the device.

The case is about whether a bump stock, which is added to a semi-automatic rifle to speed up firing, is then considered a machine gun and can be banned, according to ScotusBlog.

The 5th Circuit previously ruled that the bump stock doesn’t qualify as a machine-gun, Law360 reports. The Supreme Court did not give a reason why it would hear the case, simply listing it as a court order granting the requested writ of certiorari in the case while denying the Goldwater Institute’s request for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae, meaning it wanted to file an authoritative text regarding the case.

Federal gov’t appealed, saying devices that turn firearms into a machine gun can be banned

The federal government appealed to the Supreme Court to hear the case in April, saying the National Firearms Act was expanded in 1968 to increase the definition of machine gun to devices that would turn a firearm into a machine gun, Law360 reports.

“As we told the court in urging it to grant review and affirm the appeals court’s decision, ATF for many years recognized that bump-stock-equipped semi-automatic weapons are not ‘machineguns,'” an attorney for Cargill, Richard Samp of the New Civil Liberties Alliance told Law360 in a statement. “Its sudden reversal can only be explained as a decision to allow political expediency to trump the rule of law.”

On Aug. 8, the U.S. Supreme Court majority allowed the Biden administration’s “ghost gun” ban to remain in effect until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issues a ruling.

Do you think the bump stock ban should be in effect? Let us know in the comments.

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