Supreme Court overturns ban on bump stocks Friday
Jun 14, 2024, 8:39 AM | Updated: 4:55 pm
(AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a 2017 ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that allows semi-automatic firearms to rapidly fire.
ABC News Legal Analyst Royal Oakes on this week’s SCOTUS opinions
The Associated Press reports the court made this decision Friday, June 14. Bump stocks were initially banned after one was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
In a 6-3 vote, according to AP, the SCOTUS determined the Trump administration did not follow federal law when it banned bump stocks.
The real debate, Friday, was over whether a bump stock transforms a semi-automatic firearm into an illegal machine gun.
Ultimately, the SCOTUS determined that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) overstepped its authority by banning bump stocks. It ruled that bump stocks could not turn a firearm into an illegal machine gun. It cited the Second Amendment as evidence.
According to the AP, 15 states and the District of Columbia have banned bump stocks.
Devin Oldroyd is a digital content producer for KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on X.