Early Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to hear two cases related to the bump-stock ban issued by President Donald Trump and the BATFE in 2018 and 2019.
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The cases were brought by the Gun Owners of America and the Utah Shooting Sports Council to challenge the ban issued by the BATFE reclassifying bump stocks as machine guns.
The reclassification means owners of bump stocks are forced to turn in or destroy their property. Being caught in possession of a bump stock could result in up to 10 years in prison.
SCOTUS refusing to hear the cases effectively means the cases are dead, and the lower court’s rulings stand–bump stocks are illegal.
However, one bump-stock-related case is still pending before the SCOTUS. McCutchen v. United States focuses not on the 2nd amendment aspect of the ban but instead on the 5th amendment Taking Clause. While the 5th amendment outlines many rights, the taking clause is specifically “No person shall..” “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.
While it is anyone’s guess if the SCOTUS will take up McCutchen v. United States, there is at least hope for bump-stocks still.
Regardless of where you land on bump stocks and their place in civilian ownership, I believe we should all be very concerned about how this ban took place.
The short version can be summarized as President Trump issuing a memorandum in 2018 to the US attorney general to regulate the use of bump stocks. Soon after, the Department of Justice and the BATFE issued a rule change that reclassified bump stocks as machine guns under the 1934 National Firearms Act. This rule change reversed more than 10 rulings issued by the BATFE between 2008 and 2017 that all declared bump stocks to be unregulated firearm parts.
The rule change in 2018 effectively banned bump stocks nationwide. The rule went into effect in 2019.
This course of a presidential order resulting in our legal property being taken away is a chilling sight to see.
Allowing this ban to stand may also heavily influence the upcoming efforts by President Joe Biden and the BATFE to ban pistol braces.
We’ll bring you more updates as they develop.
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