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Supreme Court Refuses to Block Ban on Bump Stocks Supreme Court Refuses to Block Ban on Bump Stocks
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a Trump administration initiative banning bump stocks, the attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in sustained, rapid bursts.WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to block a Trump administration initiative banning bump stocks, the attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in sustained, rapid bursts.
The court’s action, in a one-sentence order, means that the regulation will remain in force while challenges to it move forward in the courts. The court’s action, in a one-sentence order, means that the regulation will remain in force while challenges to it move forward in the courts. There were no noted dissents.
The regulation, which went into effect on Tuesday, bans the sale or possession of the devices, which were used by a gunman to massacre 58 people and wound hundreds of others at a Las Vegas concert in October 2017. Under the regulation, Americans who own bump stocks have 90 days to destroy their devices or to turn them in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case concerns executive power, not the Second Amendment. The lead plaintiff, Gun Owners of America, which describes itself as “the ‘no compromise’ gun lobby,” argued that the administration had exceeded its authority by banning bump stocks under federal laws that largely ban machine guns. (The National Rifle Association was not a party to the suit.)
Bump stocks work by harnessing a firearm’s recoil energy to slide it back and forth to bump against a squeezed trigger, so that it keeps firing without any need to pull the trigger again. The Justice Department has said this transforms semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic machine guns, which Congress has sharply restricted. Bump stocks work by harnessing a firearm’s recoil energy to allow it to keep firing after a single pull of the trigger. The Justice Department has said this transforms semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic machine guns.
The regulation, which went into effect on Tuesday, bans the sale or possession of bump stocks, which were used by a gunman to massacre 58 people and wound hundreds of others at a Las Vegas concert in October 2017.
Under the regulation, Americans who own bump stocks have 90 days to destroy their devices or to turn them in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In instructions posted on its website, the bureau suggested “crushing, melting or shredding” as acceptable methods of destruction.
Michael E. Hammond, a lawyer with Gun Owners of America, said the group “wouldn’t advocate that anyone violate the law.” But he added that the regulation may be hard to enforce.
“My guess, from the states that have enacted bump stock bans, is that most of the 500,000 people that have bump stocks are not going to turn them in, if history is any indication,” Mr. Hammond said.
The Justice Department initially decided that the executive branch did not have the authority to ban bump stocks without congressional action. It later changed course, determining it could ban the devices on its own.The Justice Department initially decided that the executive branch did not have the authority to ban bump stocks without congressional action. It later changed course, determining it could ban the devices on its own.
Gun owners challenged the regulation in a federal trial court in Michigan, saying that federal law did not allow the executive branch’s action. They added that the regulation would require the destruction of 500,000 devices worth more than $100 million. Gun owners challenged the regulation in a federal trial court in Michigan, saying that federal law did not allow the executive branch’s action. They added that the regulation would require the destruction of devices worth more than $100 million.
The trial judge refused to block the regulation, and the challengers appealed. Judge Paul L. Maloney, of the Federal District Court in Kalamazoo, Mich., last week refused to block the regulation. “Congress restricts access to machine guns because of the threat the weapons pose to public safety,” he wrote. “Restrictions on bump stocks advance the same interest. All of the public is at risk, including the smaller number of bump stock owners.”
On Monday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, rejected a request from the challengers for a stay of the trial court’s ruling while the case moved forward. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, rejected a request from the challengers for a stay of the regulation while an appeal from Judge Maloney’s decision moved forward.
The panel acknowledged that the plaintiffs “will suffer irreparable harm.” But it said “the public interest in safety supports denial of a stay pending appeal.” The panel acknowledged that the plaintiffs “will suffer irreparable harm.” But it said that “the public interest in safety supports denial of a stay pending appeal.”
The plaintiffs then turned to the Supreme Court. “This case represents the single biggest A.T.F. seizure of private property in history,” their lawyers wrote, “made even more noxious because all existing bump stocks were manufactured and purchased in accordance with A.T.F. rulings approving their sale.”The plaintiffs then turned to the Supreme Court. “This case represents the single biggest A.T.F. seizure of private property in history,” their lawyers wrote, “made even more noxious because all existing bump stocks were manufactured and purchased in accordance with A.T.F. rulings approving their sale.”
Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco, representing the administration, urged the justices to deny the stay in the case, Gun Owners of America v. Barr, No. 18A963.Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco, representing the administration, urged the justices to deny the stay in the case, Gun Owners of America v. Barr, No. 18A963.
“The protection of the public and law enforcement officers from the proliferation of prohibited firearms is a bedrock foundation of federal firearms legislation,” he wrote, adding that the regulation “promotes that public interest by protecting the public from the dangers posed by machine guns prohibited by federal law.”“The protection of the public and law enforcement officers from the proliferation of prohibited firearms is a bedrock foundation of federal firearms legislation,” he wrote, adding that the regulation “promotes that public interest by protecting the public from the dangers posed by machine guns prohibited by federal law.”
The regulation has been challenged in other courts, too, but so far none of them have ruled for the plaintiffs. After a federal trial judge in Washington refused to enter a preliminary injunction, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit did issue a temporary stay of the regulation, but it applied only to the plaintiffs in the case before it.
The challengers in that case, Guedes v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, No. 18A964, asked the Supreme Court to intervene. “Hundreds of thousands of citizens,” they wrote, “will be required to surrender or destroy their property or face felony charges for possession of devices that were unquestionably legal under A.T.F.’s construction of the statute for the past 85 years and A.T.F.’s prior written rulings stating as much.”
“No person,” their brief said, “should have to face the threat of felony prosecution and deprivation of their property due to the rushed and arbitrary time frame A.T.F. placed on these proceedings.”
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., noting that the appeals court had already imposed a partial stay, denied the application on Tuesday.