The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Friday concluded that the Trump administration exceeded its legal authority when it criminalized the sale and possession of bump stocks in 2018. While the details of the 5th Circuit's decision in Cargill v. Garland might seem arcane, at bottom it upholds the separation of powers and the rule of law. The question posed by the case is not whether prohibiting bump stocks makes sense but who has the power to make that call: the legislative branch or an administrative agency that reinterpreted the law to ban products it had previously deemed legal.
Bump stocks facilitate a rapid-firing technique in which the shooter maintains forward pressure on a semi-automatic rifle, which pushes the trigger against a stationary finger. Recoil energy then propels the rifle backward, resetting the trigger, which is repeatedly activated as long as the shooter keeps his finger in place and continues to push the weapon forward. Bump stocks were of little interest to anyone aside from manufacturers, firearm aficionados, and bureaucrats until October 2017, when a gunman used them in an attack that killed 60 people in Las Vegas.
