U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Bump Stock Ban

On Friday the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the ATF’s ban on firearm accessories commonly known as bump stocks.

The decision was 6-3, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing the majority opinion.

Thomas wrote:

Semiautomatic firearms, which require shooters to reengage the trigger for every shot, are not machineguns. This case asks whether a bump stock—an accessory for a semi-automatic rifle that allows the shooter to rapidly reengage the trigger (and therefore achieve a high rate of fire)—converts the rifle into a ‘machinegun.’ We hold that it does not…

The challenge to the bump stock ban was brought by Mike Cargill, owner of Central Texas Gun Works in Austin, Texas.

On November 5, 2023, Breitbart News published an exclusive interview with Cargill in which he expressed his belief that a Supreme Court decision in his favor could deweaponize federal agencies across the board.

Cargill said, “The federal government, they initially started out with just the bump stock. They focused on this little part, this little piece here. But since then, it’s grown to other things. Federal agencies are using the exact same verbiage, the exact rule they used to ban the bump stock to go after everything else.”

He continued, “They’re going after AR-15 stabilizer braces, they’re going after triggers, after 80 percent frames and receivers, all with the same words and language as they used against bump stocks.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.