Supreme Court rules gun 'bump stocks' ban is unlawful
In a loss for the Biden administration, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that federal ban on “bump stocks,” gun accessories that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire more quickly, is unlawful.
WASHINGTON — In a loss for the Biden administration, the Supreme Court ruled Friday that a federal ban on “bump stocks,” gun accessories that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire more quickly, is unlawful.
In a 6-3 ruling on ideological lines, with the court's conservatives in the majority, the court held that an almost 100-year-old law aimed at banning machine guns cannot legitimately be interpreted to include bump stocks.
Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that a firearm equipped with the accessory does not meet the definition of "machinegun" under federal law.
A bump stock,left, displayed at Good Guys Gun Shop in Orem, Utah, on Oct. 4, 2017. George Frey / Reuters file The ruling prompted a vigorous dissent from liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
"When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck," she wrote in reference to bump stocks enabling semiautomatic rifles to operate like machine guns. Sotomayor also took the rare step of reading a summary of her dissent in court.
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