FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2024
Florida Chapter of AAP Condemns SCOTUS Decision on Bump Stock Devices
Keeping the most lethal weapons off the streets is in the best interest of everyone, especially children.
Tallahassee, Florida – The Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP), the statewide voice of pediatricians in Florida, condemns the recent Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision to rescind the ban on “bump stock” devices as enacted during the Trump Administration and reaffirmed by the Biden Administration. At the direction of then President Donald Trump, the federal ban on “machine guns” was clarified to include “bump stock” devices capable of giving semiautomatic firearms automatic function in response to the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017 where 1,000 rounds of ammunition were fired in 11 minutes at a crowd attending a music festival, killing 60 people and wounding over 400.
A “bump stock” is an accessory that replace a rifle’s stock, the part that gets pressed against the shooter’s shoulder. When a person fires a semiautomatic weapon fitted with a “bump stock”, it uses the gun’s recoil energy to rapidly and repeatedly “bump” the trigger against the shooter’s finger allowing the rifle to shoot upwards of 400-800 rounds per minute. By comparison, an incredibly lethal semiautomatic weapon (such as an AR-15) unfitted with a “bump stock” fires between 45-60 rounds per minute. The Parkland shooter using an AR-15 was able to fire 180 rounds in 4 minutes, killing 17 students and staff and injuring another 17.
Firearm-related injuries are now the number one cause of death in children and teens in the US, accounting for over 1,600 deaths and 6,200 injuries in 2023. FCAAP does not wish to challenge anyone’s 2nd Amendments rights. As healthcare professionals tasked with securing the health and wellbeing of Florida’s children, we advocate for safe storage practices for all firearms, strengthened background checks including the closing of the gun show loophole, and banning assault weapons / high-capacity magazines. Public opinion polls demonstrate clear majority support of these recommendations and common sense tells us that keeping the most lethal weapons, like “bump stock” devices that give semiautomatic firearms the capability of “machine guns”, off the streets is in the best interest of all Americans, and especially our children.
About the Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics:
Through its almost 2,800 members, the Florida Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics promotes the health and welfare of Florida’s children and supports pediatricians and pediatric specialists as the best qualified providers of their health care.
MEDIA CONTACT
Alicia E. Adams, Esq., Executive Director, aadams@fcaap.org