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NEW ORLEANS — A Trump administration ban on bump stocks was struck down Friday by a federal appeals court in New Orleans. The ban was instituted after the Las Vegas attack in 2017. Gun rights advocates have challenged it in multiple courts. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals ruled 13-3 against the law, which will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
“A plain reading of the statutory language, paired with close consideration of the mechanics of a semi-automatic firearm, reveals that a bump stock is excluded from the technical definition of ‘machinegun’ set forth in the Gun Control and National Firearms Act,” Judge Jennifer Walker wrote in the lead majority opinion.
The court found that the definition of a machinegun — which is set out in two different federal statutes — “does not apply to bump stocks.” The ban had survived challenges at the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; the Denver-based 10th Circuit; and the federal circuit court in Washington. A panel of three judges at the 5th Circuit also issued a ruling in favor of the ban, upholding a lower court decision by a Texas federal judge. But the full New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court voted to reconsider the case.
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