WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision for Garland v. Cargill: 

“I strongly disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ban on bump stocks, which essentially converts a semi-automatic rifle into a machine gun. This deadly device has been used in a number of recent mass shootings to kill scores of innocent people. These types of weapons of war have no legitimate civil use. I agree with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent that today’s decision will have ‘deadly consequences,’ and that the reasoning used by the majority ‘is inconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the statutory text and unsupported by context or purpose.’

“Congress should therefore take up and pass legislation to overturn this disturbing Court decision and give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives the authority to ban bump stocks. The Senate should also redouble its efforts to confirm President Biden’s judicial nominations with qualified and diverse nominees who are devoted to the rule of law and upholding the Constitution.” 

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