Local police leaders respond to SCOTUS bump stock ruling
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, a rapid-fire gun accessory that was used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
The ruling is sparking reactions nationwide. In our area, a retired police chief spoke about what he thinks this ruling means for public safety and community concerns.
The high court maintains that banning gun accessories that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire more quickly is unlawful. In response, Richard Myers, a retired police chief from Appleton and the vice chair of the non-partisan group Police Leaders for Community Safety, wanted to highlight that deadly massacre in Las Vegas. In that instance, a gunman used bump stocks to fire over 1,000 rounds into a concert crowd.
The gunman killed sixty people and wounded hundreds more; it was the deadliest mass shooting by one person in American history. Myers says bump stocks have turned semi-automatic rifles into automatic weapons by allowing the gun to fire continuously without constant trigger pulls.
Myers says the high court’s ruling allows people with ill intent to get a bump stock and turn a firearm into a weapon capable of mass casualties.
“Prior to Vegas and some of these incidents, we never worried about going to large public events. Now I think there’s a certain degree of fear, and this ruling by the courts is going to increase that fear,” said Myers.
Retired UW-Madison police chief and the chair of Police Leaders For Community Safety Sue Riseling also said she was disappointed by the decision. She says bump stocks have no sporting or hunting use, and tend to only be used for attacks rather than personal safety.
This ruling, according to Riseling, is not about the Second Amendment, but rather about legislative procedure.
“It’s innocent life put at risk because some individual who shouldn’t have these weapons not only has them but can enhance them and increase their lethality, that’s where we as police leaders say common sense says there’s no bona fide use for a bump stock,” said Riseling.
Police Leaders for Community Safety say it’s now calling on Congress to act by passing legislation that would ban bump stocks.
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