cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15645865
If the Supreme Court rules that bump stocks aren’t machine guns later this summer, it could quickly open an unfettered marketplace of newer, more powerful rapid-fire devices.
The Trump administration, in a rare break from gun rights groups, quickly banned bump stocks after the 2017 mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert that was the deadliest in U.S. history. In the ensuing years, gun rights groups challenged the underlying rationale that bump stocks are effectively machine guns — culminating in a legal fight now before the Supreme Court.
Indiscriminate fire is bad. But full auto or even “bump stock” auto just increases the odds that you shoot the same kindergartener twenty times rather than all of Mrs Anderson’s class.
Politicians and lobbyists LOVE to make the argument about rate of fire. Because there is more or less an understanding that it is pointless to fixate on and is “safe” to ban. Even army machine gunners are trained to fire in VERY short bursts (if not single shots) unless they are trying to hit a target at long range.
I was in the US Marine Corps and deployed with the front lines for the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. I never once even considered putting my M-16 on burst. I also had a 240G, which we’re taught to fire in little burts, about the time it takes to yell, “Run, fuzzy bunny, run!” Firing full auto is terrible practice. That Rambo style is for movies. Aiming is nearly impossible because of the tendency for the recoil to push the muzzle up, you’re wasting rounds, and you can also overheat the muzzle, potentially melting it to the point of making the firearm inoperable. Additionally, full auto on a magazine-fed firearm means you’ll have to reload in mere seconds, so the only way that would be helpful for maximum death is with one of those drums, which makes the rifle heavy as shit. Basically, full auto is pointless unless you’re using a firearm specifically designed for that, fighting a military force, have logistics to support your amm needs, and are using a “machine gun” starting with at least a M249 SAW. Even then, anything beyond that would likely require a second person to help.