Supreme Court rejects bump stock ban cases, one from Utahn
Oct 3, 2022, 3:45 PM | Updated: Oct 12, 2022, 11:13 am
OREM, UT - FEBRUARY 21: A bump stock is installed on an AK-47 at Good Guys Gun and Range on February 21, 2018 in Orem, Utah. The bump stock is a device when installed allows a semi-automatic to fire at a rapid rate much like a fully automatic gun. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
(Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t take up two cases that involved challenges to a ban enacted during the Trump administration on bump stocks, the gun attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns.
The justices’ decision not to hear the cases comes on the heels of a decision in June in which the justices by a 6-3 vote expanded gun-possession rights, weakening states’ ability to limit the carrying of guns in public.
Today, the Supreme Court denied the cert petitions in two lawsuits we’re watching that challenged the federal bump stock ban: https://t.co/YTmiOf3Zb2 pic.twitter.com/eiletn34SK
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) October 3, 2022
The cases the justices declined to hear were an appeal from a Utah gun rights advocate and another brought by the gun rights group Gun Owners of America and others. As is typical the justices made no comments in declining to hear the cases and they were among many the court rejected Monday, the first day of the court’s new term.
The Trump administration’s ban on bump stocks took effect in 2019 and came about as a result of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. The gunman, a 64-year-old retired postal service worker and high stakes gambler, used assault-style rifles to fire more than 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes into the crowd of 22,000 music fans. Most of the rifles were fitted with bump stock devices and high-capacity magazines. A total of 58 people were killed in the shooting and two died later. More than 850 people were injured.
In its first order list of the new term, the SCOTUS denied cert in a number of pending gun cases–including, surprisingly, the bump stock challenges. It had reschedule Aposhian *20 times* before this last conference & yet there’s not even a dissent. Also,https://t.co/hGt6b8KVl4 pic.twitter.com/tUXxrk2RMH
— Jake Charles (@JacobDCharles) October 3, 2022
The Trump administration’s move was an about-face for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2010, under the Obama administration, the agency found that bump stocks should not be classified as a “machinegun” and therefore should not be banned under federal law. Under the Trump administration, officials revisited that determination and found it incorrect.
The high court previously declined a different opportunity to take a case involving the ban.
If a bump stock is an illegal machinegun because it can bump fire, then so is an AR-15.
Neither a bump stock nor an AR-15 is a machinegun and @GunOwners will not stand idly by while @ATFHQ sets the stage for further gun bans and gun confiscation. https://t.co/lYzK0CY6zr
— Aidan Johnston (@RealGunLobbyist) October 3, 2022
The cases the court rejected Monday are W. Clark Aposhian v. Merrick B. Garland, 21-159, and Gun Owners of America v. Merrick B. Garland, 21-1215.
