Sen. Dick Durbin (D) called for a ban on bump stocks Wednesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Local News Live reported that Durbin framed the bump stock ban as a way of responding to the Supreme Court’s June 14, 2024, decision which struck down the ATF’s bump stock ban.
Breitbart News noted that the SCOTUS majority opinion in the bump stock case was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, who pointed out that the ATF’s attempt to stretch the definition of machineguns to include bump stocks was a non-starter:
Semiautomatic firearms, which require shooters to reengage the trigger for every shot, are not machineguns. This case asks whether a bump stock—an accessory for a semi-automatic rifle that allows the shooter to rapidly reengage the trigger (and therefore achieve a high rate of fire)—converts the rifle into a ‘machinegun.’ We hold that it does not…
Forbes published video from the Judiciary Committee hearing, in which Durbin pointed to the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting in hopes of justifying his push to ban bump stocks. He wants Congress to pass legislation updating the Gun Control Act (1968) so as to make sure machineguns, as defined in the act, include bump stocks.
WATCH — AWR Hawkins: Bump Stock Fact Check
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
