Bump stocks allow semiautomatic rifles to fire bullets at nearly machine gun rate
Debate over role of textualism in interpreting gun laws continues
Decision met with criticism from some politicians and public figures
Justice Clarence Thomas under ethical concerns for accepting gifts from Republican donors
Supreme Court strikes down ban on bump stocks
The Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down the ban on bump stocks, which allow semiautomatic rifles to fire bullets at nearly the rate of machine guns, has sparked controversy and debate. The court ruled that a bump stock doesn't transform a semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun because it doesn't fire more than one bullet per trigger pull but accelerates how many times the trigger is pulled.
The decision was met with criticism from some, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who mistakenly claimed that the Buffalo supermarket shooter used a bump stock during the massacre in 2022. In reality, he used illegally modified semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity ammunition magazines but did not use a bump stock.
The Supreme Court's ruling has also brought renewed attention to Justice Clarence Thomas and the ethical concerns surrounding his acceptance of gifts from Republican donors, including billionaire Harlan Crow. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) called Thomas 'corrupt' during an interview with MSNBC, citing the disproportionate value of these gifts compared to other judges.
The ruling has also raised questions about the role of textualism in interpreting laws and whether it was applied consistently in this case. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused her conservative colleagues of hypocrisy for not adhering to textualism when it didn't suit their ideology.
The debate over bump stocks and the role of the Supreme Court in interpreting gun laws is likely to continue, with both sides arguing for their respective positions based on principles of constitutional interpretation and public safety.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas 'corrupt' following the court's decision to overturn a Trump-era bump stocks ban.
Crockett's criticism stems from increasing scrutiny on gifts Thomas has received from Republican super donors, including billionaire Harlan Crow, which far exceed any other judge in disclosed value.
Accuracy
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that a bump stock couldn’t be considered a machine gun because it doesn’t fire more than one bullet per trigger pull but accelerates how many times the trigger is pulled.
Sonia Sotomayor dissented, calling the decision 'artificially narrow' and having 'deadly consequences.'
Deception
(0%)
The author, Yash Roy, makes editorializing statements by calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas 'corrupt' without providing any evidence to support this claim. This is an example of emotional manipulation and sensationalism.
> Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as ‘corrupt.’ End of story. No one gets this kind of money and isn’t influenced in any way.
I’m sure Alito would find a reason for why that law is unconstitutional in some way.
Fallacies
(80%)
The author, Yash Roy, makes an appeal to authority when quoting Rep. Jasmine Crockett's statement that Justice Clarence Thomas is 'corrupt.' This is not a logical fallacy in itself as it is a statement made by the author about the person being interviewed. However, if the article contained additional evidence or reasoning from the author to support this claim, it could potentially become an argument from authority fallacy. The score is reduced because of this potential for a fallacy.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as 'corrupt' during an interview with MSNBC on the court's recent decision to overturn a Trump-era bump stocks ban.
Bias
(0%)
The author, Yash Roy, demonstrates clear political bias in this article by quoting Rep. Jasmine Crockett's (D-Texas) derogatory comments about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his alleged corruption. The author does not provide any evidence to support Crockett's claims beyond her statements.
Clarence Thomas is corrupt. End of story. No one gets this kind of money and isn’t influenced in any way.
Democrats have repeatedly criticized Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito for bias in their court decisions.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) slammed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as ‘corrupt.’
There will absolutely be a reckoning on November 5.
The Supreme Court struck down the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule that classified bump stocks as ‘machine guns’ on Friday.
Samuel Alito wrote that Congress would have considered bump stocks akin to machine guns but ruled to throw out the ban due to unclear statutory text.
Bump stocks allow semiautomatic rifles to fire bullets at nearly the rate of machine guns by using a gun’s recoil to reactivate the trigger faster.
Michael Cargill, a gun-shop owner from Austin, sued the federal government challenging the law on statutory grounds.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that a bump stock couldn’t be considered a machine gun because it doesn’t fire more than one bullet per trigger pull but accelerates how many times the trigger is pulled.
Alito agreed with Thomas and stated that Congress needed to be explicit if they wanted to ban bump stocks by amending the law or passing a new one.
Accuracy
]The Supreme Court struck down the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule that classified bump stocks as 'machine guns' on Friday.[
New York Governor Kathy Hochul made an error in her statement regarding the Buffalo supermarket shooting, stating that the gunman used a bump stock despite it being untrue.
The Supreme Court overturned a ban on bump stocks in June 2023.
Governor Hochul intended to call out dangerous weapon modifications, including bump stocks and high-capacity ammunition magazines, in her statement.
In the Buffalo supermarket shooting, the gunman used illegally modified semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity ammunition magazines but did not use a bump stock.
The Supreme Court ruled that bump stocks do not transform semiautomatic rifles into machine guns and are legal to own.
Governor Hochul and New York lawmakers passed new firearms laws, including banning the sale of semiautomatic rifles to people under 21 and restricting bulletproof vest sales, following the Buffalo supermarket shooting.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(0%)
The author, Anthony Izaguirre, incorrectly stated that the Buffalo supermarket killer used a bump stock to modify his semiautomatic rifle. However, the killer did not use a bump stock but instead used illegal high-capacity ammunition magazines. This is an example of selective reporting and misinformation.
Around an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ban on bump stocks, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrongly said a gunman who carried out a racist massacre in her hometown of Buffalo had used the gun accessory that can allow semiautomatic rifles to shoot as fast as a machine gun.
She incorrectly said that the white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo in 2022 used a bump stock.
Fallacies
(95%)
The author made an error in stating that the Buffalo supermarket killer used a bump stock when in fact he did not. This is a clear example of an incorrect statement or misrepresentation by the author, which can be considered a fallacy of Error or Misrepresentation. However, since this was likely an honest mistake rather than an intentional deception, and there were no other obvious fallacies present in the article, the score remains high.
The governor incorrectly stated that the Buffalo supermarket killer used a bump stock.
Bias
(95%)
The author, Anthony Izaguirre, made an error in reporting that the Buffalo supermarket killer used a bump stock when in fact he did not. The governor's statement was intended to generally call out dangerous modifications of weapons but the author incorrectly reported it as a fact.
“a man using a bump stock killed 10 of our neighbors in Buffalo.”
“Exactly one month ago, we marked the anniversary of the deadly Buffalo massacre — the horrific day when a hate-fueled gunman murdered ten of our neighbors, using a bump stock to transform his firearm into an even deadlier weapon,"
Sonia Sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent in the Supreme Court’s Garland v. Cargill case
Sotomayor accused her conservative colleagues of hypocrisy for not adhering to textualism in their interpretation of the law
She quoted past opinions where each justice in the majority had emphasized the importance of textualism and ordinary meaning of statutes
Accuracy
The federal definition of a machine gun includes any weapon that shoots automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger
Bump stocks meet this definition and were therefore banned under the National Firearms Act
Deception
(10%)
The authors use the phrase 'totally normal quote of the day' in a non-descriptive way to introduce an opinionated statement about the Supreme Court's decision. They also use emotional manipulation by describing the bump stocks as being used in 'the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history'. The authors selectively report information by focusing on Sotomayor's dissent and ignoring the majority opinion, implying that her interpretation is the only valid one.
The authors selectively report information by focusing on Sotomayor’s dissent and ignoring the majority opinion.
They also use emotional manipulation by describing the bump stocks as being used in 'the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history'.
This is Totally Normal Quote of the Day, a feature highlighting a statement from the news that exemplifies just how extremely normal everything has become.
Fallacies
(95%)
The authors do not commit any formal or informal fallacies in their article. However, they make an appeal to authority by quoting Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent and the past opinions of other justices to support their argument. This does not constitute a fallacy as it is a valid rhetorical device used to strengthen an argument.
]When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.[/
Bias
(80%)
The authors use language that depicts the conservative justices as hypocritical for not adhering to their stated principles when it comes to interpreting the law regarding bump stocks. They also quote past opinions of these justices emphasizing textualism and ordinary meaning of statutes, highlighting how the conservative justices in this case have forgotten their own principles.
Sotomayor stressed that the meaning of words does matter. 'When I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.', wrote Sotomayor. 'A bump-stock-equipped semiautomatic rifle fires ‘automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger’. Because I, like Congress, call that a machinegun, I respectfully dissent.
The conservative justices' use of textualism mirrors their use of originalism: Both are supposedly strict philosophies for interpreting law that give them cover to do whatever they want when it suits them.
