Bump Stocks Are Not Machine Guns, SCOTUS Strikes Down ATF Rule

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued an opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas on Cargill vs Garland. The justices ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) overstepped its authority when it banned bump stocks through the rule-making process by a 6-3 margin.

“We hold that a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a ‘machinegun’ because it cannot fire more than one shot ‘by a single function of the trigger.”’ And, even if it could, it would not do so ‘automatically,’” Thomas wrote. “ATF therefore exceeded its statutory authority by issuing a Rule that classifies bump stocks as machineguns.”

Bump stocks are devices that attach to a rifle to increase the rate of fire. The shooter puts forward pressure on the foregrip of a semiautomatic gun while pulling the trigger. The rifle’s recoil resets the trigger, allowing the user to fire at a greater rate of fire. Some claim this “simulates automatic fire,” while others say there is a massive difference between automatic fire and what a shooter can accomplish with a bump stock.

For years, the ATF held the opinion that bump stocks did not convert a firearm into a machine gun. A machine gun fires automatically with a single function of the trigger. Since the trigger must be pulled each time a round is expelled from a firearm, it did not meet the definition of a machine gun conversion device. There was nothing novel about the firearm accessory. For years, people have been bump firing using rubber bands or belt loops.

SCOTUS found that bump stocks did not fire automatically by a single function of a trigger. Therefore, a bump stock could not be considered a machine gun. SCOTUS wholly rejected the ATF’s arguments in the case. The Court said that the ATF could not change federal law.

If the bump stock did meet the definition of a machine gun conversion device, it would be banned under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), which states that any device that converts a firearm into a machine gun is itself considered a machine gun. In 1986, the machine gun registry for civilian machine guns was closed by the Hughes Amendment in the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA). Since the bump stock was invented well after that time, no bump stocks would be eligible to be registered in accordance with the NFA.

After a 2017 shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, the FBI claimed that the mass murderer used an AR-15 equipped with a bump stock to kill 50 people at a country music concert from a window at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Hotel. Then-President Donald Trump heard enough and asked the ATF to ban bump stocks along with pushing the idea of suspending due process (red flag laws). The ATF would grant Trump his wish by issuing a new rule proclaiming bump stocks to be machine guns, reversing years of ATF opinions on the devices.

Overnight, thousands of Americans would find themselves in possession of what the ATF now considers to be an illegal machine gun. Without an act of Congress, the government took something previously legal and made it illegal. A Texas gun dealer named Michael Cargill didn’t believe what the ATF did would pass Constitutional muster and violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Mr. Cargill teamed up with the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) to sue the Department of Justice (DOJ) over the rule.

I WON 6-3 Garland vs Cargill@centexguns @ComeAndTalkIt @NCLAlegal #bumpstock #CargillVGarland pic.twitter.com/g3K7FcGU6g

— Michael Cargill (@michaeldcargill) June 14, 2024

The case would eventually reach the En Banc of the Federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The government felt confident in their case, but the Supreme Court released the Bruen decision months earlier, which eliminated intermediate scrutiny. That decision meant the courts could no longer use the excuse of “public safety” to violate a person’s rights. Any gun law had to be consistent with the text, tradition, and history of the Second Amendment. This legal change weighed into the Fifth Circuit decision. The Court would rule 13-3 for Cargill and remanded the case back to the District Court to issue the appropriate relief for Cargill.

The DOJ would go to the Supreme Court and ask for an administrative stay on the decision until they could petition SCOTUS for a writ of certiorari. Associate Justice Samual Alito would grant the request until the High Court could decide to grant or deny cert. SCOTUS would eventually choose to hear the case, which was argued on February 28 of this year.

This decision will have rippling effects on past bump stocks. The ATF has used the same power to enact other rules such as the pistol brace, the engaged in the business, and the frames and receiver rules. The Courts have been skeptical of these rules and have stepped in to block all of them. There are currently injunctions against all these rules, although the frames and receivers ruling has been administratively stayed until the Supreme Court hears the case and issues an opinion. With this decision, it puts the other rules on a death watch.

This is a major victory for the Second Amendment community and a reason for gun owners to celebrate.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. Mr. Crump lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.