Spanberger Statement on Supreme Court Ruling to Strike Down Federal Bump Stock Ban

Congresswoman: “As a Former Federal Law Enforcement Officer, I Know that Weapons Designed to Inflict Maximum Casualties Do Not Belong on Our Streets, in Our Schools, or in Our Communities”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Garland v. Cargill, which overturns a Trump-era federal ban on bump stocks.

“During the 2017 Las Vegas shooting — the deadliest mass shooting in United States history, a gunman swiftly killed 58 people and injured 800 more using a semiautomatic rifle modified with a bump stock. In response to this tragedy and the undeniable need to rid our streets of the device that enabled such a horrific massacre, the Trump Administration banned bump stocks with broad bipartisan support. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ended this years-long ban, putting countless American lives at risk in a decision that will inevitably result in more gun deaths.

“As a former federal law enforcement officer, I know that weapons designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets, in our schools, or in our communities. Speaker Johnson must bring bipartisan legislation to the U.S. House floor that would codify a ban on bump stocks for civilian use under federal law and save lives.”

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Bump stocks are accessories that affix to semiautomatic rifles to generate simulated automatic fire with a single trigger pull, allowing a gun to fire at a rate of 400 to 800 rounds per minute. In March 2024, Spanberger urged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the bipartisan Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act — which the U.S. House passed in 2022 — to the U.S. House floor to codify a ban on the manufacturing, sale, or possession of bump stocks for civilian use under federal law.

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