After a Vegas gunman used bump stocks in killing 60 people and injuring more than 400 others, they were banned by executive order by then-president Trump. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today struck down that ban.
In a 13-3 decision, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that despite "tremendous" public pressure to impose a ban, it was up to the U.S. Congress rather than the president to take action.
Three other circuits have upheld the ban; the split created by this one invites the U.S. Supreme Court to end the ban for good, though it has recently turned down other bump stock cases.
Bump stocks use recoil to push the trigger back into the shooter's finger after each shot, allowing automated firing without meeting the legal definition of a fully-automatic rifle or machine gun.
