Supreme Court Seems Divided Over ATF Bump Stock Regulation

During oral arguments, debate focused on whether bump stocks allow a single trigger pull to initiate a process by which bullets are rapidly released.

A little-known device called a "bump stock" is attached to a semi-automatic rifle at the Gun Vault store and shooting range in South Jordan, Utah, on Oct. 4, 2017. Rick Bowmer /AP Photo

The Supreme Court seemed divided during oral arguments on Feb. 28 over whether it would uphold the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulation prohibiting ownership of bump stocks.

That regulation came after the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas in which a gunman used bump stock-equipped firearms. It reversed years of ATF interpretations allowing nonmechanical bump stocks, or those without a spring.