Houstonians react to Supreme Court decision to overturn ban on accessories used to modify firearms

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — While the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the ban on bump stocks is an important development, you've been able to buy them here since last year.

The move follows a 2023 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which made them available again in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The big issue is whether or not a shock stock turns a semi-automatic weapon into a machine gun. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the court's opinion, said no.

Kyle Harrison, general manager of Top Gun Range in West Houston, agrees.

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“That was a really good answer,” Harrison said of Thomas’ opinion. “He obviously knows what he’s talking about.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a bump stock as a replacement stock for a semi-automatic rifle that allows it to fire much faster.

The Trump administration determined that bump stocks turned semiautomatic weapons into machine guns in 2018, but Harrison said that was why that wasn't the case.

“You have to pull the trigger every time,” he said, using a bump stock. “It’s not an automatic weapon like an M16 where you could pull the trigger, hold it down and it would continue to fire.”

In her dissenting opinion, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed.

“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,” she said.

ABC13 spoke Friday with some Houston residents who feel the same way as Sotomayor.

“If we already know it causes harm, I don’t understand what you should do with it,” Nicole Lavrack said.

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Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration would urge Congress to ban bull stocks again because of the ruling.

The changes were previously made by the Justice Department, amending regulations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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