(LibertySons.org) – In the wake of the deadliest mass killings in American history, the Trump administration banned bump stocks — an addition to a weapon that essentially turns semiautomatics into machine guns. Seven years later, on June 14, the Supreme Court overturned that prohibition, bringing the issue back into the limelight. Democrats responded by attempting to pass a bill to ban the devices, but it didn’t pass.
On June 18, Senate Democrats’ efforts were blocked by their Republican colleagues in the Upper Chamber. The bill would have banned the sale of bump stocks. While the original ban during the Trump era passed with bipartisan support, the SCOTUS ruling has caused some GOP members to second-guess their support for the initiative.
Some Republicans recently agreed that banning bump stocks was still a good idea, while others weren’t so sure. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) requested unanimous consent for the measure on the Senate floor, but Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) objected.
The Nebraska lawmaker called the move a “show vote” and insisted the bill wasn’t about bump stocks at all. Ricketts said the legislation would “ban literally any item that makes a firearm easier” and perhaps “safer to shoot.” He called the measure unconstitutional.
However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) disagreed with Ricketts, calling the federal ban a “commonsense safety measure.” He dared Senate Republicans to tell the “families who lost loved ones” that the bill is a “show vote.” In the current political climate, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said passing a deal on the matter would be hard.
Although the killer in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting was about to fire off over 1,000 rounds in 11 minutes with the assistance of a bump stock, SCOTUS ruled that the device does not turn a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court’s majority opinion, which stated machine guns only require one pull of the trigger for multiple rounds, while transformed semiautomatic rifles with bump stocks require one pull per shot.
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
Copyright 2024, LibertySons.org
