An Assembly Resolution condemning the recent United States Supreme Court's decision in Garland v. Cargill and reaffirming that bump stocks are a dangerous firearm component.

Whereas, On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, killing 60 people and injuring at least 530 people in just ten minutes, resulting in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States' modern history; and

Whereas, According to news reports, the Las Vegas shooter modified his rifles with bump stocks, which significantly alters the speed at which an individual can pull the trigger of a firearm; and

Whereas, A firearm equipped with a bump stock can fire as many as 800 rounds per minute and a semi-automatic firearm equipped with a bump stock is not readily distinguishable from a machine gun; and

Whereas, In Garland v. Cargill, the United States Supreme Court rejected the federal government's argument that rifles equipped with bump stocks are machine guns, which are generally prohibited under federal law and ruled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) did not have the authority to issue the regulation banning bump stocks in a 6-3 majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas; and

Whereas, Under the National Firearms Act of 1934, Congress prohibited machine guns, defined as "any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger" and that definition was expanded under the Gun Control Act of 1968 to include parts that can be used to convert a weapon into a machine gun; and

Whereas, the Court's conservative justices emphasized that Congress could have previously enacted a law that banned all weapons capable of high rates of fire, but did not. Thus, the ATF was wrong to interpret the federal ban on machine guns to extend to bump stocks; and

Whereas, Justice Thomas' opinion in Cargill incorrectly stated that the ATF exceeded its statutory authority because bump stocks do not meet the statutory definition of a machine gun under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968; and

Whereas, In 2018, the New Jersey State Legislature and Governor also enacted P.L.2017, c.323 to prohibit the sale and possession of these dangerous devices and established a third degree crime of possession of a bump stock, regardless of whether the person is in possession of a firearm; and

Whereas, On March 26, 2019, the ATF appropriately banned bump stocks in a final rule in the Federal Register by classifying these devices as "machine guns" as the phrase is defined in the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968; and

Whereas, The ATF is a Justice Department agency that is tasked with interpreting and administering federal gun-control laws and is comprised of experts with highly specialized training in firearms; and

Whereas, The United States Supreme Court's decision in Cargill recklessly places machine guns in the hands of the public which is in direct contravention of the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968; and

Whereas, The Cargill decision puts the public's safety at risk and is yet another example of the Supreme Court undermining the deference ordinarily granted to executive branch agencies to interpret and enforce federal law; and

Whereas, It is, therefore, fitting and proper for this House to condemn the United State Supreme Court's decision in Cargill and reaffirm this State's commitment to protecting its citizens by having enacted P.L.2017, c.323 to prohibit bump stocks as dangerous devices that should not be publicly available; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. This resolution condemns the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Garland v. Cargill, which held that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority when it promulgated a regulation prohibiting bump stocks.

2. This resolution reaffirms this State's commitment to protecting its citizens by having enacted P.L.2017, c.323 to prohibit the sale and possession of bump stocks.

3. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to each member of Congress elected from this State.

STATEMENT

This resolution condemns the United States Supreme Court's ruling in Garland v. Cargill, which held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) exceeded its authority when it promulgated a regulation prohibiting bump stocks. In addition, this resolution reaffirms this State's commitment to protecting its citizens by having enacted P.L.2017, c.323 to prohibit the sale and possession of bump stocks.

On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor venue in Las Vegas, Nevada killing 60 people and injuring at least 530 people in just ten minutes, resulting in the deadliest mass shooting in the United States' modern history. According to news reports, the Las Vegas shooter modified his rifles with bump stocks, which significantly alters the speed at which an individual can pull the trigger of a firearm.

A bump stock is a device or component for a firearm that increases the rate of fire achievable with the weapon by using energy from the recoil of the firearm. A firearm equipped with a bump stock can fire as many as 800 rounds per minute and a semi-automatic firearm equipped with a bump stock is not readily distinguishable from a machine gun.