WASHINGTON — Gun shops are selling bump stocks again in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi after federal regulators failed to appeal a ruling that lifted a ban imposed after a Las Vegas rampage left 58 people dead.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, struck down the federal ban from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ruling in January that only Congress has such authority.
Several other federal appeals courts have upheld the ban. So bump stocks — devices that enable semi-automatic rifles to fire faster — remain illegal in most of the country. The Supreme Court often weighs in in such situations, and the ATF could go there next.
