Reckless Judgement
A federal bump stocks gun ban, put into effect by the Trump administration following the deadliest mass shooting in American history, was rejected by the Supreme Court on June 14, 2024. The Las Vegas mass shooting occurred on October 1, 2017. It killed 60 people and wounded several hundreds more. The question that must be asked by all Americans is if those who hold some of the greatest powers within the American government really care about the safety of their fellow Americans.
Mass shootings have been an ugly stain on American domestic life since the late 1990s. The deadly Columbine High School shootings of April 20, 1999 shook the nation and blasted America into an era of profound grief and fear. Since 1999, conservative America’s stubborn defense of their gun-friendly attitudes, and ultimately their emphasis on the powers of the 2nd Amendment, have undeniably applied a firm grip on the minds of the Supreme Court. Their rejection of the Trump-era bump stocks gun ban last Friday is indicative of not only the political bias among the justices towards the Far Right, but also how little they care about the risks associated with their judgement. Judgment that can be considered reckless at best.
A bump stock can be defined as an attachment that enables a semiautomatic rifle to fire faster. This was the device of choice during 64-year old Stephen Paddock’s gruesome assault on humanity at the Route 91 Harvest music festival back in 2017. Paddock fired more than a thousand rounds that bloodbath of a night. In 2018, the Justice Department used its authority as part of the executive branch to ban the devices. Now that the Supreme Court has rejected the ban, the door is wide open for mass shootings even deadlier than the one in Las Vegas almost seven years ago.
In a political climate that seems to be increasingly inflammatory, the current behavior of the Supreme Court is alarming. In the wake of the overturning of the historic Roe V. Wade decision of 1973, and in light of recent judicial improprieties involving longtime Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court projects a degree of unprofessionalism and partisan bias that should disappoint and concern all Americans. Members of the citizenry who expect the most powerful court on the planet to make healthy and reasonable judgements, and who respect the freedoms and ethical dignity of what is often described as the leading democratic society in the world, are faced with an uneasy reality.
The Supreme Court’s rejection of the federal bump stocks gun ban of 2018 should be interpreted as yet another blow to its legitimacy as a guardian of American justice. The frightening cries and screams of innocent victims, which best characterize the form of domestic terrorism that America has wrestled with for the past twenty-five years, will continue to haunt this nation until its leadership gets serious about gun regulation. Despite the pivotal role that gun ownership has played in constructing America’s identity throughout its history, the most powerful and influential elements of our government ought to recognize the clear threat that a rogue gun culture poses to all Americans’ right to live in safe and secure communities. Reckless judgment can undermine our society and embolden disturbed individuals to unleash death and chaos in a future not too far off, and perhaps deadlier than anything we’ve seen thus far.
