Washington — The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a challenge to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks for firearms put in place in the wake of the 2017 mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas.At issue in the case is whether a bump stock is a 'machine gun' under federal law. The dispute is the second involving firearms that the Supreme Court will hear this term, but it does not involve the Second Amendment.
Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld the lower court's decision, determining that 'bump stocks qualify as machine guns under the best interpretation of the statute.'But the full slate of judges on the 5th Circuit struck down the regulation. In a 13-3 decision in January 2023, the appeals court found that Congress must act to prohibit bump stocks.