Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson this week demonstrated an incredible misunderstanding of bump stocks.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the following cases: Garland vs Cargill. The question is whether a bump stock device is a “machine gun.” as defined by federal law.
The issue reached the Supreme Court after Texas gun store owner Michael Cargill sued the federal government. In the ATF ruling, Bump stock devices are “machine guns” and are therefore illegal to own. A U.S. District Court initially ruled in favor of the government, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. The Biden administration then appealed to the Supreme Court.
At oral argument, Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson repeated assertion that Bump stocks modify firearms to fire hundreds of bullets. every second.
Mr. Jackson claimed that the “function” of the rifle with a modified bump stock was to fire “800 rounds per second,” and later claimed that the device was “capable of automatically firing 800 rounds.” Meanwhile, Sotomayor claimed that the bump stock allows the rifle to fire “400 to 700 or 800 rounds of ammunition.”
However, their claims are false.
First, bump stock do It allows the firearm to fire ammunition more quickly, but not in the same way as a traditional “machine gun.”
Fully automatic firearms, on the other hand, fire all available ammunition with a single pull of the trigger. Semi-automatic guns, on the other hand, fire. just 1 round every time you pull the trigger. However, bump stocks increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic rifles by harnessing the recoil of the firearm and allowing the shooter to fire faster, essentially “bumping” the trigger against the finger. However, the core function of the firearm – that each time the trigger is pulled, he fires one bullet – remains unchanged.
Second, it is not true that a firearm with a modified bump stock can fire hundreds of rounds. every second, but can fire hundreds of rounds per minute.of The fastest firing gun used by the US military It can only fire up to about 100 rounds per second.
Cargill’s attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, quickly corrected the judge.
In response to Sotomayor’s claims, Mitchell said, “The magazine only holds 50 rounds, so it doesn’t fire 400 to 700 rounds. So you have to change the magazine after every round. I allow it.” Up to 50. “
And, in response to Jackson’s claims, Mitchell said, “It is factually incorrect that the function on the trigger automatically starts some kind of chain reaction that fires multiple bullets from the gun. shots are fired, and then the shooter must fire more shots.” manual action. ”
A verdict in this case is expected to be handed down by June.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Register here!
