INDEMS react to SCOTUS Ruling Ban on Gun “Bump Stocks” Unconstitutional Endangering Progress on Gun Safety

On Friday, June 14, SCOTUS struck down a ban on gun stocks, which are devices that can be attached to semi-automatic weapons that enable it to continuously fire, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The court’s decision was split 6-3 along ideological lines, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing the majority opinion and Justice Sonia Sotomayor the dissent.

“A bump-stock-equipped semiautomatic rifle fires ‘automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.’ Because I, like Congress, call that a machine gun, I respectfully dissent.”

The lifting of the ban is likely to have deadly consequences. Bump stocks gained national attention in 2017, when a gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas music festival resulting in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. 60 people were murdered that night and approximately 867 were injured. 

“The bump stock ban was passed to honor those that died in Las Vegas and to save innumerable potential gun violence victims in the future,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl.

“Our legislators and justices have a responsibility to ensure that the American people can attend music festivals, go to school, and pick up their groceries without fearing for their lives. This decision was more about politics than the 2nd Amendment. Hoosier Democrats will keep pushing for state and federal legislation to keep families safe from the weapons of war that bump stocks create.”

“We need to build on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, and prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands and onto Hoosier streets. This ruling only makes it harder for our law enforcement to keep us safe.”