#SCOTUS on Fri sided w/a Texas man who challenged a federal #law enacted during the Trump admin that #outlawed #BumpStocks, devices that greatly increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic #weapons.

The 6-3 ruling invalidates the #ban on bump stocks put in place following the 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in #LasVegas & finds that the #ATF exceed its #authority when it issued the ban in 2018.

#guns #GunControl
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-bump-stock-ban-opinion/

The court's ruling unwinds one of the few actions the federal government has taken in recent years to combat #GunViolence, as Republican opposition in Congress has made comprehensive #firearms restrictions highly unlikely. The case did NOT involve the #2ndAmendment, but was one of several before the justices this term involving #federal #regulatory #power.

#SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas’s majority opinion:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-976_e29g.pdf

#law

In dissent, #SCOTUS Justice Sonia #Sotomayor said the majority’s opinion would have “deadly consequences," adding that the court “hamstrings the government’s efforts to keep machineguns from gunmen like the Las Vegas shooter.”

#law
#GunRegulations #ATF #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #GunControl #NRA #DarkMoney

#BumpStocks are a piece of molded plastic or metal that replaces the butt of a #rifle & the handle closest to the trigger. The piece allows a portion of the #gun to slide freely back-&-forth. The recoil from a shot causes the gun to “bump” between the shooter’s shoulder & trigger finger, causing shots to be fired in quick succession.

Rifles equipped w/ bump stocks can fire an estimated 400 to 800 bullets per minute, a rate approaching that of #AutomaticWeapons.

#law #SCOTUS

#GarlandVCargill turned on whether #BumpStocks meet the definition of a #MachineGun under a 1986 #law. Fed appeals courts were divided in 5 earlier decisions, before #SCOTUS.

Cargill’s case did not directly involve the #2ndAmendment, but was a test of the reach of a #FederalAgency to enact & interpret #regulations — a major crusade w/the current #SupremeCourt.

#Legal precedent says courts should DEFER to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes if reasonable.

#GunControl #ActivistCourt