Bump stock ban remains intact as U.S appeals court deadlocks

An federal appeals court in Ohio was deadlocked Friday over a bump stock ban, and challengers said they would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI

Dec. 4 (UPI) — A U.S appeals court ruling, which ended in deadlock Friday, left intact a bump stock ban that went into place during the Trump-era.

Bump stocks increase a gun’s rate of fire by using the recoil to have the gun fire continuously, nearly converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic machine gun.

With a bump stock, some guns can fire between 400 and 500 rounds per minute.

After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left 58 people dead and injured hundreds, the Trump administration banned bump stock devices. All gun owners were required to destroy the devices or turn them over to authorities.

According to the ruling, “by continuously firing at rapid speeds with one activation of the trigger, machine guns can inflict great harm in short periods.”

“No doubt many people believe that rifles equipped with bump stocks share the same dangerous traits that led Congress to ban machine guns,” it read.

The 8-8 tie, which came in Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit, upheld the ruling of a lower court judge from 2019.

In a statement to The Hill, the Gun Owners of America, one of the challengers in the case, said it would “seek relief in the Supreme Court.”

“GOA’s fight is not over,” Vice President Erich Pratt wrote.

“The fact that the 6th Circuit was so divided that it could not even give us an answer to our question means that the Supreme Court must eventually decide whether unelected [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] bureaucrats have the power to create new federal crimes out of thin air.”

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