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GEOFF BENNETT: Another big
day at the U.S. Supreme Court,

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as the justices handed down a
decision with major implications
for firearm regulations.

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In a 6-3 ruling, the
conservative majority
found that the government

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exceeded its authority when
it issued a ban in 2018 on
bump stocks. That's a gun

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accessory used in the deadliest
mass shooting in U.S. history.

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AMNA NAWAZ: A bump stock is
used on the back end of a

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semiautomatic rifle. It
allows the user to reengage
the trigger continuously,

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dramatically increasing
the rate of fire like that
of an automatic weapon.

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Marcia Coyle, our Supreme Court
analyst, has been following this
case closely and joins me now.

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Marcia, it's always
great to speak with you.

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So, this federal bump stock
ban was approved back in
2018 by then-President Trump,

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and it was in response to
that 2017 Las Vegas outdoor
music concert shooting;

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58 people were killed. A
bump stock was used in that.

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But just remind us, how did this
issue get before the Supreme
Court in the first place?

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MARCIA COYLE, "The National
Law Journal": The way
so many cases do, Amna.

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Michael Cargill, who was a gun
shop owner in Austin, Texas,
filed a lawsuit challenging the

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Bureau of ATF's rule,
ban on bump stocks. He
won before the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Fifth

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Circuit. It was the Biden
administration that brought
the case, the appeal
to the Supreme Court.

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AMNA NAWAZ: And, Marcia,
this was not about the
Second Amendment here.
This was about regulation

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and how the court
views this -- views it.

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Alito, writing in his
concurring opinion,

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said this: "There can be
little doubt that the Congress
that enacted this law would

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not have seen any material
difference between
a machine gun and a
semiautomatic rifle equipped

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with a bump stock. But the
statutory text is clear
and we must follow it."

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In her dissent, Justice
Sotomayor said this: "The
court puts bump stocks
back in civilian hands. To

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do so, it casts aside Congress'
definition of machine gun
and seizes upon one that is

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inconsistent with the ordinary
meaning of the statutory
text. When I see a bird

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that walks like a duck, swims
like a duck, and quacks like a
duck, I call that bird a duck."

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Marcia, what does this tell
us about how the justices were
thinking about this issue?

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MARCIA COYLE: Well, first of
all, this was very much a case
of statutory interpretation,

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looking at the language
of the statute.

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And it tells us almost
immediately in the vote that
the justices looked at the

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language and saw it very
differently on the left
and the right. In fact,

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Justice Kagan said at one
point during arguments
that, yes, textualism,

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sticking to the text is fine,
but it's not inconsistent
with common sense.

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So she believed the court
should be looking little broadly
in terms of what the statute

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was designed to do. But
you can look at it two ways
really, Amna. It is of a piece

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with the conservative rulings
in the recent years in which
gun restrictions were lifted.

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And it's also a piece with the
conservative justices' concerns

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that federal agencies
have gained too much power
and are overreaching.

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AMNA NAWAZ: It's been reported
there are about 520,000 bump
stocks in circulation when the

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Department of Justice changed
its classification, effectively
pulling it from the market.

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And we asked Chip
Brownlee, who's a reporter
with an organization
called The Trace that

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covers gun violence, about
the potential impact of
this decision. Here's
what he had to say.

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CHIP BROWNLEE, The Trace:
We saw these devices be
used in the deadliest
mass shooting in American

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history. And so I think if you
have somebody who is intent on
committing a crime like that and

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gets their hands on one of these
devices, they can essentially
take their gun from a gun that

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shoots 60, 70, 80 rounds per
minute to a gun that shoots
500, 600, 700 rounds per minute.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia, did
that potential impact

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come up in any of the justices'
questions or their discussion?

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MARCIA COYLE: Well, certainly,
during oral arguments, the
justices were keenly aware,

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I believe, of the impact of bump
stocks and what they can do.

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But, again, they were focused
on the text, the language of

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the Bureau of ATF's rule
and whether it encompassed
bump stocks as machine guns.

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AMNA NAWAZ: We also know there
are a number of federal firearm
possession-related cases pending

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either before the Supreme Court
or making their way through
appeals courts right now.

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One of the biggest is the
United States v. Rahimi.
What's at stake there?

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MARCIA COYLE: That's the federal
ban on possession of guns by
anyone who is under a domestic

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violence protective order. It's
going to be a fascinating case.
It is a Second Amendment case.

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Lower federal courts said,
using Justice Clarence Thomas'
new test for Second Amendment,

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that there was no historical
analog or anything in
history that allowed such a

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ban to go forward. So that could
be decided this next week, any
time before the end of the term.

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AMNA NAWAZ: Marcia, we
know there are a number of
key issues on other cases

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still before the court. What
other kind of issues and
rulings could we see this term?

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MARCIA COYLE: Well,
obviously, one of the
most closely watched cases

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is Donald Trump's claim
of absolute immunity from
criminal prosecution.

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Besides that, there are
two major social media
cases involving the First
Amendment. There's also

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several big cases involving
federal regulatory agencies and
their power, their authority.

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The court is a little bit
behind right now. Usually,

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it tries to wrap up the term
by the end of June, but there's
still a lot left to decide.

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AMNA NAWAZ: That is our
Supreme Court analyst, Marcia
Coyle, joining us tonight.

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Marcia, always great
to see you. Thank you.

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MARCIA COYLE: My pleasure.