Supreme Court rejects challenge to 'bump stocks' ban

Supreme Court rejects challenge to 'bump stocks' ban

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by gun rights advocates to overturn President Donald Trump's ban on "bump stocks" - devices that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like a machine gun - implemented after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

Tamara Lindstrom has more.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a case brought by gun rights advocates against President Donald Trump's "bump stocks" ban - meaning the ban will stay in place.

The justices left in place a lower court's decision that upheld the Trump administration's action to define bump stocks as prohibited machine guns under U.S. law.

The device gained widespread attention after the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, in which the gunman used bump stocks to fire more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition in about 11 minutes, killing 58 people attending a music festival.

The ban, which went into effect in March 2019, required owners to turn in or destroy the attachments.

Those caught with them could face up to 10 years in prison.

The ban represents a rare recent instance of gun control at the federal level in a country that has experienced a series of mass shootings.

Numerous gun control proposals have been thwarted in Congress, largely because of opposition by Republican lawmakers and the influential N.R.A.