(005320.38-:E-003569.93:N-HO:R-SU:C-30:V)   

[I did not know that they twisted a bump stock rifle into being a "machine gun". Nice to see something pro-gun winning. Jan]

The US Supreme Court yesterday struck down a Trump-era federal ban on a gun accessory, known as a bump stock, that modifies semi-automatic weapons to fire roughly 400 to 800 rounds per minute, a rate nearing that of automatic weapons (700 to 950 rounds per minute).

The court’s 6-3 ruling (see here) found the Justice Department exceeded its authority in 2018 when reclassifying rifles modified with bump stocks as machine guns, which are banned under a 1986 law. Justice Clarence Thomas, in writing for the majority, said rifles with bump stocks don’t qualify as machine guns, which are defined as being able to fire more than one shot "by a single function of the trigger." Whereas rifles with bump stocks technically involve multiple functions of the trigger, with an individual needing to "release and reset the trigger between every shot."

Bump stocks became illegal following their use in a 2017 massacre at a Las Vegas music festival that killed 60 people—the deadliest mass shooting in US history. At least 15 states currently ban bump stocks.

Source: 1440