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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: E24 0618 BIDEN TRUMP GUNS
HEADLINE: Supreme Court decision keeps guns at center of US presidential race
TEASER: Bump stocks fire hundreds of bullets a minute
PUBLISHED: 06/17/2024 at 1:40PM
BYLINE: Scott Stearns
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Denver
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR:
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Bush
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, Sharon Shahid
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP, Reuters, Raymond Paige
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:33
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVR
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) The U.S. Supreme Court last week struck down a ban on a gun accessory that allows many semiautomatic weapons to fire like machine guns. The decision keeps guns and gun owners at the center of this U.S. presidential campaign. VOA correspondent Scott Stearns has our story.
((NAT POP OF GUNFIRE))
((NARRATOR))
Bump stocks are after-market additions that allow weapons to fire hundreds of bullets a minute.
((NARRATOR))
They were banned by then-president Donald Trump in 2018 …
((December 18, 2018))
((President Donald Trump))
"This morning, we also completed the process to issue a new regulation banning bump stocks.”
((Courtesy: Raymond Page))
((NARRATOR))
… following a 2017 shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas that killed 60 people.
((NARRATOR))
The shooter used a bump stock to fire more than 1,000 rounds from a hotel window.
((NARRATOR))
Overturning that ban last week, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority said the then-Trump administration overstepped its authority in outlawing bump stocks.
The decision keeps guns a central campaign issue in this presidential election.
The Trump campaign said Americans should respect the high court’s decision. On Friday, Trump told a birthday rally in Florida that his election will safeguard gun rights in the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
((Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate))
“We got to get people, gun owners to vote. You're not going to have your gun very long if you don't, because they want to take everything away. They want to take your guns away. They want to take your ammunition away. They want to take — they want to destroy the Second Amendment.”
((NARRATOR))
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign called on Congress to reinstate the bump stock ban.
Vice President Kamala Harris.
((Kamala Harris, US Vice President))
"When we think about the decisions voters are going to make in November, there's a clear contrast between where we stand and the former president. Let's not forget — the former president literally said folks need to get over it, as it relates to the gun violence issue in America. So, let's take this seriously. Let's understand that we all have the ability to weigh in on this important issue.”
((NARRATOR))
Trump supporters in Congress back gun owners’ rights to use bump stocks.
((FOR RADIO: Florida Congressman Byron Donalds))
((Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican))
"The bump stock, if you will, is really just a brace for people who have arm injuries, who still actively shoot. That doesn't mean that they're going to target citizens. It never has.”
((NARRATOR))
Biden supporters in Congress say the Supreme Court decision will lead to more loss of life.
((FOR RADIO: California Congressman Adam Schiff))
((Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat))
"Without a doubt, there'll be some future tragedy utilizing these bump stocks. And we will all ask ourselves, ‘Why is this necessary? Why do we have to live with this?’”
((NAT POP OF GUNFIRE))
((NARRATOR))
Nearly one-third of Americans say they own a gun, according to the Pew Research Center.
Before November’s vote, the high court is expected to rule on another gun issue, this one concerning gun rights for people who are under restraining orders for domestic violence.
((Scott Stearns, VOA News))
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