IMMEDIATE ADOPTION
Number
240399
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
Sponsor
COMMON COUNCIL
Title
Resolution expressing the City of Milwaukee’s support for both state and federal legislation banning bump stocks.
Analysis
This resolution expresses the City of Milwaukee’s support for state and federal legislation banning bump stocks. The resolution further amends the City’s state legislative package to include support for legislation banning bump stocks.
Body
Whereas, A “bump stock” is a firearm accessory that replaces a rifle’s standard stock, freeing the weapon to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing energy from the gun’s kickback; and
Whereas, The stock “bumps” back and forth between the shooter’s shoulder and trigger finger, freeing the shooter of the need to squeeze their finger and causing the rifle to fire rapidly, at nearly the rate of a machine gun; and
Whereas, On December 18, 2018, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced that the Department of Justice had amended the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, clarifying that bump stocks fall within the definition of “machine gun” under federal law, and ownership was therefore heavily restricted; and
Whereas, On June 14, 2024, in Cargill v. United States, the United States Supreme Court struck down this regulation, holding that a semiautomatic rifle equipped with a bump stock does not meet the definition of a machine gun; and
Whereas, The majority decision is based on a novel, contorted and convoluted definition of “machine gun” that bypasses congressional intent, textual fidelity and common sense; and
Whereas, A bump stock applied to a semi-automatic rifle like an AR-15 can shoot at a rate of up to 800 rounds per minute; and
Whereas, This rate of fire is comparable to a fully automatic machine gun and orders-of-magnitude higher than the approximately 60 rounds per minute a shooter could fire by squee...
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