The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a nationwide ban on bump stocks sparked outrage among Democrats and gun control groups who have long vilified the weapons used in the nation’s worst mass shootings.
The groups expressed concern not only about the impact of lifting the ban, which could lead to a spike in mass shootings, but also about other firearms cases that remain on the justices’ dockets.
Meanwhile, gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Republicans, welcomed Friday’s decision as a necessary retreat from gun control and expanding executive power.
“The Supreme Court properly limited the executive branch’s role to enforcement, not lawmaking, and this decision will be crucial to the NRA’s future challenges to ATF regulations,” Randy Kozuk, the group’s executive director of lobbying, said in a statement.
The push to ban bump stocks was reignited after a gunman used a bump stock to kill 50 concertgoers in Las Vegas in 2017, in what remains the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Democrats were the most vocal in calling for further regulation of the devices, but even the NRA called for further regulation at the time. Without congressional approval, the Trump administration ultimately banned the devices through new rules from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).
The ATF banned the device, which can significantly increase the rate of fire of a semi-automatic rifle, because it is considered a machine gun under federal law.
In an ideologically-lined 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court on Friday said the classification went beyond the scope of the law, ruling in favor of a Texas gun store owner who challenged the ban after returning two bump stocks.
The Trump campaign, now trying to retake the White House, has not shown any enthusiasm for backing the restrictions his administration once implemented.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement that the court’s decision “should be respected.”
“President Trump has been and continues to be a fierce defender of the Second Amendment rights of Americans and is proud to have the endorsement of the NRA,” Leavitt said, blasting Biden’s immigration policies as a reason “the right to keep and bear arms is more important than ever.”
The Supreme Court’s decision still leaves open the possibility of a nationwide bump stock ban if Congress amends longstanding federal laws banning machine guns to more explicitly cover the devices.
“There is a simple solution to the difference in treatment of bump stocks and machine guns,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a brief, separate opinion. “Congress can change the law. Had the ATF stuck to its previous interpretation, it probably would have done so already. Now that the situation is clear, Congress can act.”
Some court watchers took the comments from Justice Alito, one of the Supreme Court’s leading conservatives, as a signal that he would not find the law unconstitutional even if it ultimately was challenged on Second Amendment grounds.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats responded to the ruling by calling for similar legislation.
Those concerns were echoed by President Biden, who pointed to the Las Vegas mass shooting that prompted the original ban.
“No American should have to live in fear of this wholesale destruction,” Biden said, vowing to sign legislation banning bump stocks and assault weapons “immediately” if it reaches his desk.
But a ban seems unlikely during the current Congress: Democrats have previously sought to introduce such a bill, but only one Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, has signed on to it.
Other Republicans on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, praising it as a victory for gun rights and a check on government overreach.
“The Supreme Court is reminding unelected bureaucrats that they cannot infringe on Second Amendment rights by rewriting laws they don’t like,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) wrote on X.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) reposted a video of Austin gun store owner Michael Cargill, who has challenged the bump stock ban.
“More than five years ago someone said to me, ‘Why go down this path? Nobody cares about bump stocks. Let’s take bump stocks away,'” Cargill said in a video celebrating his Supreme Court victory. “But I stood up and fought, and because of this, the bump stock lawsuit will be the lawsuit that saves everything.”
Gun control groups, who supported bump stock bans before the Supreme Court, argue the ruling will lead to more violence.
“At the end of the day, the Supreme Court majority’s decision will result in many more people dying,” Brady Chief Legal Officer Douglas Letter said in a conference call with reporters.
“And they will die at a very difficult time for Congress while it decides whether to correct this error, this grave error made by six justices.”
The decision marks the first major gun control opinion this term, but it doesn’t involve a Second Amendment challenge. But a Second Amendment lawsuit soon could quickly change the legal landscape for gun rights, adding fuel to the fire.
Later this month, the Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on whether the government can take away weapons from people who have domestic violence restraining orders in place, in the court’s first case to apply a new legal test that represents the largest expansion of Second Amendment rights in the past decade.
The Supreme Court is currently being asked to hear a separate Second Amendment case out of Illinois that could have an impact on Democrats’ efforts to ban assault rifles across the country.
Beyond these disputes, the incoming Supreme Court has already agreed to hear another case assessing the ATF’s interpretation of federal gun law — this time, the court will decide whether the Biden administration had the authority to ban “ghost guns.”
“The Supreme Court today delivered a good decision that is frankly long overdue,” National Gun Rights Association President Dudley Brown said in a statement. “ATF has strayed so far off course for so long that it can no longer even find its way.”
