The Donald Trump administration has banned bump stocks.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of the administration’s decision.
On that small but important score, we’ve made our society a little safer from extreme gun violence.
Bump stocks were thrust into our national conscience when a gunman opened fire in Las Vegas, Nev., killing 59 country music festival attendees. The moron used a weapon that had been turned into a fully automatic machine gun with a bump stock, a device one can attach to these weapons.
There can be only one reason to attack a bump stock on a weapon such as the one used by lunatic who opened fire in Las Vegas: it is to turn that weapon into a killing machine.
The Supreme Court had received an appeal from gun-owner rights groups that wanted the court to overturn the ban that took effect this week. The court said “no” to their appeal.
This is a good thing for Americans who are concerned about the spasm of gun violence that has become all too commonplace in our society.
Does this ban prohibit hunters, target shooters or those who just collect firearms from pursuing their right to “keep and bear arms” in accordance with the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?
Not in the least.
Instead, it allows law enforcement authorities and the courts to sentence individuals to prison terms of as long as 10 years while paying fines of as much as $100,000. No one’s rights are compromised.
It goes to show you that, yes, we can impose reasonable restrictions on these weapons without endangering the Second Amendment.
