Supreme Court Ruling on Bump Stocks Could Impact Gun Accessory Restrictions
In a recent Supreme Court ruling overturning the ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that allows rifles to fire at nearly the rate of a machine gun, the potential implications go beyond just that specific device. The decision has the potential to impact President Biden’s efforts to restrict other gun accessories that give semiautomatic rifles rapid-fire capabilities.
The ruling could also affect the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ restrictions on trigger devices such as “forced-reset triggers” or “wide-open triggers” that allow shooters to fire more than 900 rounds in a minute with one continuous squeeze. These devices were deemed to effectively turn semiautomatic weapons into prohibited machine guns by the ATF in 2022.
Gun-rights groups and sellers of trigger accessories have seized on the Supreme Court’s decision, arguing that it could provide a legal path to challenge the ATF’s restrictions on these trigger devices. They claim that the mechanism of forced-reset triggers differentiates them from true machine guns, both practically and legally.
However, gun-control groups are concerned that the ruling could open the door for more gun modifications that will allow rapid-fire rifles to proliferate nationally, making an already dangerous situation even worse. They argue that assault weapons are already a significant threat and that these modifications only exacerbate the issue.
The debate over gun accessories and restrictions continues to be a contentious issue, with both sides presenting strong arguments for their positions. As legal battles unfold and the implications of the Supreme Court ruling become clearer, the future of gun accessory regulations remains uncertain.
