Supreme Court Won’t Hear Pro-Second Amendment Advocates
(RepublicanNews.org) – The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) handed pro-Second Amendment advocates a win over the summer after they voted that a majority of Americans had a constitutional right to carry handguns for self-defense in public. However, despite holding a conservative majority of six to three liberal justices, the Supreme Court refused to hear another pro-Second Amendment argument. The SCOTUS’ decision means a Trump-era ban on bump stocks will remain in place.
The Ban
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) banned bump stocks after authorities discovered Stephen Paddock used the devices to shoot hundreds of people, killing 58 and injuring countless others in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting. The Las Vegas massacre in 2017 prompted former President Trump to take action and prohibit the use of bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic rifles to have rates of fire similar to those of machine guns. The ban forced anyone possessing the devices to turn them in or destroy them. Anyone who failed to do so and remained in possession of bump stocks would face up to a decade behind bars upon conviction.
Pro-gun advocates have made repeated attempts to convince the Supreme Court to overturn the ban, but all have failed.
Supreme Court’s Refusal
The most recent effort to get the ban thrown out has suffered the same fate as those that came before it. The SCOTUS refused to hear the cases. Gun advocates, including Clark Aposhian, chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, and Gun Owners of America, challenged the ATF’s reclassification of bump stocks as machine guns, which have been practically prohibited since 1986. The groups claim Congress never authorized the ATF to classify the devices in the manner they did.
Both challenges came after the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado upheld the ATF’s ban in 2020 and the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio followed suit in 2021. The decision by the lower courts led gun advocates to seek out help from the Supreme Court. However, the SCOTUS denied the move without offering any reason.
The High Court’s refusal likely came as a shock to many gun advocates after the SCOTUS declared an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense was protected under the US Constitution. Pro-Second Amendment activists likely thought that with a 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court, they would be able to get the Trump era ban overturned.
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