After 90 minutes of argument in the high-profile bump-stock-ban dispute, it appeared that the Supreme Court was deeply divided over whether or not to strike down the federal ban on the device that can convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire far more rapidly, CNN reports. The ban was approved during former President Donald Trump's administration, in response to the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 in which a single gunman used the devices as he fired on an outdoor music festival and killed 58 people.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump nominee, worried that the prohibition would “ensnare” Americans who weren’t aware of it. “Even if you’re not aware of the legal prohibition, you can be convicted,” Kavanaugh told the attorney representing the Biden administration. “That’s going to ensnare a lot of people who are not aware of the legal prohibition.” Though the appeal doesn’t involve the Second Amendment, it once again thrusts the fraught debate over guns onto the Supreme Court’s docket as the nation continues to reel from mass shootings. It’s also the latest of several important cases this year that will give the court’s 6-3 conservative majority an opportunity to limit the power of federal agencies.