Supreme Court strikes down bump stock ban: Letters to the Editor — June 18, 2024

NY Post readers discuss the Supreme Court rules that the Trump team couldn't redefine "machine gun" to ban bump stocks. AFP via Getty Images

The Issue: The Supreme Court rules that the Trump team couldn’t redefine “machine gun” to ban bump stocks.

The Supreme Court overturned former President Donald Trump’s 2018 ban on bump stocks for semi-automatic firearms (“ ‘Bump’ing it back,” June 15).

Like many Supreme Court rulings, this outcome relied on the question of whether the government has the power to magically change the definition of a “machine gun” on a whim. Perhaps the most useful outcome of the ruling is that it highlights Trump’s record on gun rights as he seeks re-election. Trump assured NRA members in February that he was “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House,” despite telling the public at a 2018 news conference 2018: “We’re knocking out bump stocks . . . bump stocks are gone.”

For all his self-promoting “outsider” guff, Trump’s a typical politician. While campaigning he pretends to be whoever and whatever he thinks his supporters want him to be — but once in office, he tends to revert to his true form.

Thomas L. Knapp

Gainesville. Fla.

The Supreme Court that Republicans have weaponized has repealed the ban on bump stocks, basically allowing anyone to turn a rifle into a rapid-fire machine gun.

So according to the GOP, when Hunter Biden buys a gun while under the influence of drugs, that is a serious crime. But when the Supreme Court allows anyone to have access to what amounts to a weapon that will fire hundreds of bullets per minute, without a background check, that is OK?

Why? Because the NRA is a major contributor to all Republicans. Let’s just drag the dead bodies away and hose down the blood on the sidewalk so we can toss confetti and celebrate the Second Amendment.

Robert LaRosa Sr.

Whitestone

This summer, as liberal elites retreat to their Hampton palaces, we worker bees have to navigate these mean streets every day while tiptoeing over and around needles, dead bodies and violent migrants. All the while, Sen. Chuck Schumer is slamming the Supreme Court over its decision tossing the Trump ban on bump stocks (“NY pols: Our country is less safe,” June 15).

But judging by the neighborhood degradation all along Eighth Avenue, it won’t be too long before New York’s commuters feel the need to enter this cesspool of a city in armed groups.

Ron Spurga

Manhattan

President Biden’s new gun-control ad is vile (“Biden unveils new ad touting his support for gun control after SCOTUS ruling on bump stocks, Hunter’s conviction,” June 15).

Perhaps someone should ask him if he thinks crackheads should have revolvers. I eagerly anticipate a similar ad after his crackhead son, Hunter Biden, is convicted of tax fraud in September.

This ad will highlight Biden’s commitment to how the rich must pay their fair share of taxes, though this would not apply to Hunter.

Michael Brautigam

Tallinn, Estonia

The Supreme Court equals stupid, yet again. Why would they make it easier to kill more people more quickly?

Dick Cardozo

Westbury

I was shocked to hear that the Trump-loving Supreme Court just blatantly overturned the federal ban on bump stocks, a ban that was passed during the Trump administration.

It doesn’t make sense, given that gun violence is a leading cause of death in children, that the Supreme Court would want to make it easier for mass murderers to turn their semi-automatic rifles into machine guns.

Sharon Austry

Fort Worth, Tex.

The Trump-stacked Supreme Court is going to make the country a lot more dangerous now that it has overturned the bump stock ban.

The deadliest mass shooting in American history, the Las Vegas shooting, was perpetrated using rifles outfitted with bump stocks. We should expect similar shootings in coming years now that mass murderers have the equipment necessary to kill lots of people very efficiently.

Phil Stein

Merced, Cali

Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.