Biden Criticizes Supreme Court Decision on Bump Stocks

President Joe Biden criticized the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to overturn a federal ban on bump stocks and urged Congress to take action.

“Today’s decision invalidates an important gun safety regulation,” Biden stated in a statement. “American citizens should not have to endure such widespread destruction.”

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices upheld a lower court’s decision in favor of Michael Cargill, a gun shop owner from Austin, Texas, who challenged the ban on bump stocks. These devices allow semiautomatic rifles to fire rapidly like machine guns.

The court’s liberal minority disagreed with the decision.

Biden referenced the mass shooting in Las Vegas in October 2017, stating that the bump stock on the shooter’s gun enabled him to shoot over 1,000 bullets in 10 minutes, resulting in the deaths of 60 individuals and injuries to hundreds more.

“While radical Congressional Republicans seek to defund the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), my Administration has utilized every available tool to combat gun violence,” he remarked. “I appointed the first Senate-confirmed Director of the ATF since 2015. My Administration ensured that the ATF is adequately funded to address emerging firearm technologies like machinegun conversion devices and ghost guns, which present a unique and severe threat to public safety.”

The president highlighted the signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, as well as investments in mental health and expanded background checks. However, he emphasized the need for further action.

“We understand that thoughts and prayers alone are insufficient,” Biden declared. “I urge Congress to ban bump stocks, implement an assault weapon ban, and take additional measures to save lives — present me with a bill, and I will promptly sign it.”

In the majority opinion for the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas stated, “A semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock does not fire more than one shot ‘by a single function of the trigger.’ “

“Regardless of the presence of a bump stock, a shooter must release and reset the trigger after each shot,” the justice explained.

The bump stock ban was put in place by the Trump administration in 2017 following the Las Vegas concert shooting.