Washington: The US Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stocks implemented during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
This ruling represents the latest instance of the high court curbing the authority of federal agencies to enact regulations autonomously, CNN reported.
Justice Clarence Thomas penned the majority opinion for a 6-3 court, with the dissent led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and joined by the liberal wing of the court.
Trump had advocated for the ban following a tragic mass shooting in 2017, where 58 individuals lost their lives during an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Bump stocks enable a shooter to modify a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon capable of firing at a rapid rate, potentially hundreds of rounds per minute.
“A bump stock does not convert a semiautomatic rifle into a machinegun any more than a shooter with a lightning-fast trigger finger does,” Thomas articulated in the opinion. “Even with a bump stock, a semiautomatic rifle will fire only one shot for every ‘function of the trigger.’”
The legal challenge to the ban was initiated by Michael Cargill, a gun store owner from Texas, who acquired two bump stocks in 2018, surrendered them to authorities after the ban’s enactment, and subsequently filed a lawsuit to reclaim them. Under federal regulation, possession of a bump stock became a punishable offense, carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
While the case did not directly hinge on Second Amendment rights, it reignited the discourse surrounding firearms within the judicial sphere, marking one of the most closely monitored legal disputes of the year. Consequently, the decision aligns with a pattern of the Supreme Court’s rulings favouring the interests of gun rights advocacy groups, as reported by CNN. (ANI)
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