Tag Archives: Bump Stocks

U.S. Supreme Court rejects challenge to ban on gun ‘bump stocks’

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by gun rights advocates to overturn President Donald Trump’s ban on “bump stocks” – devices that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like a machine gun – implemented after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

The justices left in place a lower court’s decision that upheld the Trump administration’s action to define bump stocks as prohibited machine guns under U.S. law.

The ban, which went into effect in March 2019, was embraced by Trump following a massacre that killed 58 people at a music festival in Las Vegas in which the gunman used bump stocks. It represented a rare recent instance of gun control at the federal level in a country that has experienced a series of mass shootings.

Numerous gun control proposals have been thwarted in the U.S. Congress, largely because of opposition by Republican lawmakers and the influential National Rifle Association gun rights lobby.

The Firearms Policy Foundation, a gun rights group, and other plaintiffs sued in federal court to try to reverse Trump’s action. The Supreme Court last year refused to block the ban from going into effect while the legal challenges against it were considered in the courts. The justices also refused to temporarily exempt from the plaintiffs in the case from the ban.

Bump stocks use a gun’s recoil to bump its trigger, enabling a semiautomatic weapon to fire hundreds of rounds per minute, which can transform it into a machine gun. The ban required owners to turn in or destroy the attachments and those caught in possession of them could face up to 10 years in prison.

The Las Vegas gunman, Stephen Paddock, was found to have fired more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition in about 11 minutes, employing semi-automatic rifles modified with bump stocks.

The plaintiffs challenged a new rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at Trump’s direction that classified bump stock devices as forbidden machine guns under the 1934 National Firearms Act.

A federal court refused to issue an injunction against the ban, saying the plaintiffs would likely lose the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld that decision, deferring to the bureau’s new interpretation of the National Firearms Act.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative member of the court appointed by Trump, issued a statement agreeing with the decision to deny the appeal. But he criticized the lower court’s deference to a federal agency – the bureau – that had changed its interpretation of a longstanding law.

“How, in all this, can ordinary citizens be expected to keep up?” Gorsuch asked, adding that the bump stock dispute may return to the Supreme Court at a later date.

The Supreme Court in December heard arguments in the first major gun dispute to come before the justices since 2010 – a challenge backed by the NRA to a handgun transport restriction in New York City.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

One year later, Las Vegas remembers mass shooting that killed 58

White crosses set up for the victims of the Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting are pictured in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., October 6, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

(Reuters) – White doves flew overhead, each tagged with a name of the 58 people killed one year ago in the largest mass shooting in modern American history, as loved ones gathered in Las Vegas at a sunrise service on Monday to remember them.

“On October 1st, our city was jolted into darkness,” said Mynda Smith, whose sister Neysa Tonks, a 46-year-old mother of three, was among those gunned down in the massacre that wounded more than 800 at an outdoor country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip.

“None of us will ever be the same after that night. However, none of us were alone,” she said, recalling the massive response of citizens donating blood, aiding the injured and feeding families stunned by the violence. “We found love that came from so many that were there to help us.”

Gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, fired more than 1,100 rounds from his 32nd-floor hotel suite at the Mandalay Bay on the evening of Oct. 1, 2017, and then killed himself before police stormed his room.

At the daybreak ceremony one year later, friends and family members bowed their heads for 58 seconds of silence before a choral group sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and the air was filled with the mournful strains of bagpipes.

MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay and drew criticism for countersuing victims to seek immunity from damage claims, expressed solidarity and sympathy on the first anniversary of the gun violence.

“One year ago, our community suffered an unforgettable act of terror,” MGM Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Murren said in a statement. “We share the sorrow of those who mourn and continue to search for meaning in events that lie beyond our understanding.”

Paddock used “bump stock” devices to accelerate the rate of fire from his semiautomatic rifles, effectively turning them into machine guns.

The use of bump stocks, which are legal under U.S. law, prompted calls from politicians and gun control activists to ban the devices.

Within days, National Rifle Association leaders urged the U.S. government to review whether bump stocks were legal. Drawing criticism from some NRA members who viewed that call as a betrayal of the powerful gun lobby’s principles, the NRA position also gave political cover to the Trump administration to consider regulating bump stocks.

On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said it had submitted a proposed ban on bump stocks last week to the Office of Management and Budget for review, part of the legal process required for the regulation to take effect.

President Donald Trump, asked about bump stocks at a news conference on Monday, said his administration was scrambling to ensure the devices would be illegal within a matter of weeks.

“We’re knocking out bump stocks,” Trump said. “Bump stocks are done – I told the NRA.”

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg, Dan Trotta and Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

L.L. Bean joins Kroger, Walmart in raising minimum age for gun sales

People put flowers among other mementoes at the fence of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, after the police security perimeter was removed, following a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

(Reuters) – Outdoor gear maker L.L. Bean will raise the minimum age for purchasers of guns to 21 from 18, joining a list of retailers putting restrictions on firearm sales following a mass shooting at a Florida high school last month.

“In the wake of this shooting we have reviewed our policy on firearm sales, and we will no longer be selling guns or ammunition to anyone under the age of 21,” L.L. Bean said in a tweet on Thursday.

The company said it sold firearms only at its flagship store in Maine and those guns only focused on hunting.

It does not sell assault-style firearms, high-capacity firearms, bump stocks or handguns, L.L. Bean tweeted on Friday.

The announcement comes after similar moves by Kroger Co, Walmart Inc and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc, and two weeks after social media-savvy students at the Florida high school ignited an intense debate on gun control in the United States following the deadly shooting.

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)

U.S. Justice Department considers possible ‘bump stocks’ ban

U.S. Justice Department considers possible 'bump stocks' ban

By Sarah N. Lynch and Eric Walsh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that it is considering a possible ban on certain bump stocks, the attachments that make semiautomatic rifles fire faster and were used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas in October.

The Las Vegas gunman’s use of bump stock to allow his weapons to fire like fully automatic machine guns, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds, has led to rare bipartisan agreement in Congress on the need to review whether they should be banned.

“Possessing firearm parts that are used exclusively in converting a weapon into a machine gun is illegal, except for certain limited circumstances,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said in a joint statement. “Today we begin the process of determining whether or not bump stocks are covered by this prohibition.”

Authorities said Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s ability to fire hundreds of rounds per minute over a 10-minute period from his 32nd-floor hotel suite was a major factor in the high casualty count. Paddock, 64, killed himself before police stormed his hotel suite.

Previously, Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill that would outlaw bump stocks, while several Republicans who have typically opposed gun restrictions signaled a willingness to explore the issue.

As part of the ATF’s review into bump stocks, it plans to publish a notice that will eventually appear in the Federal Register seeking public comment.

The legal analysis will revolve around the definition of the term “machinegun” and whether bump stocks fall in that definition.

The acting director of the ATF, Thomas Brandon, is scheduled to testify on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he is expected to field questions on bump stocks.

In addition, the hearing will also explore issues related to the government’s database used to conduct background checks on gun buyers, after a man who killed 26 people in a Texas church was left out of the database despite his criminal record.

Last month, Sessions ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the ATF to conduct a review of the gun owner background check database, known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, to ensure criminals are prevented from buying guns.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Grant McCool)