Supreme Court to Decide on Legal Status of Bump Stocks Potentially Impacting Automatic Weapons Legislation

Following Federal and Appeals Courts' divided interpretations of the 1986 law, the Supreme Court to determine the legality of bump stocks, a mechanism that stimulates semi-automatic firearms to mimic automatic firing - a decision that could have far-reaching implications for future gun legislation.

The Supreme Court is set to hear Garland v. Cargill, a case regarding the legality of bump stocks - devices that enable a semi-automatic firearm to mimic automatic gunfire, firing multiple bullets in a second.
The case's outcome could legalise the devices which were used in the deadly 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, resulting in the Trump administration declaring such devices illegal through regulation in 2018.
The 1986 federal law that bans machine guns is ambiguous on whether it allows a ban on bump stocks, creating division among federal and appeal courts in their interpretation of the law.
The Trump-enhanced Supreme Court is deliberating a case which seeks to overturn Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984) - a decision that typically obliges judges to accept a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute when that statute is ambiguous.
As per Supreme Court's ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which stated that Second Amendment protections apply to weapons ‘in common use at the time’, if bump stocks are legalised and widely obtained by gun owners, a subsequent ban may violate the constitution.