Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-976_e29g.pdf
Page Number: 6

2 

GARLAND v. CARGILL 

Opinion of the Court 

converting a weapon into a machinegun.”  Ibid.  With a ma-
chinegun, a shooter can fire multiple times, or even contin-
uously, by engaging the trigger only once.  This capability 
distinguishes a machinegun from a semiautomatic firearm.  
With a semiautomatic firearm, the shooter can fire only one 
time by engaging the trigger.  The shooter must release and 
reengage the trigger to fire another shot.  Machineguns can 
ordinarily achieve higher rates of fire than semiautomatic 
firearms because the shooter does not need to release and 
reengage the trigger between shots. 
  Shooters  have  devised  techniques  for  firing  semiauto-
matic  firearms  at  rates  approaching  those  of  some  ma-
chineguns.  One technique is called bump firing.  A shooter 
who bump fires a rifle uses the firearm’s recoil to help rap-
idly manipulate the trigger.  The shooter allows the recoil 
from one shot to push the whole firearm backward.  As the 
rifle  slides  back  and  away  from  the  shooter’s  stationary 
trigger finger, the trigger is released and reset for the next 
shot.  Simultaneously, the shooter uses his nontrigger hand 
to maintain forward pressure on the rifle’s front grip.  The 
forward pressure counteracts the recoil and causes the fire-
arm (and thus the trigger) to move forward and “bump” into 
the shooter’s trigger finger.  This bump reengages the trig-
ger and causes another shot to fire, and so on. 
  Bump firing is a balancing act.  The shooter must main-
tain enough forward pressure to ensure that he will bump 
the  trigger  with  sufficient  force  to  engage  it.    But,  if  the 
shooter applies too much forward pressure, the rifle will not 
slide back far enough to allow the trigger to reset.  The right 
balance  produces  a  reciprocating  motion  that  permits  the 
shooter  to  repeatedly  engage  and  release  the  trigger  in 
rapid succession. 
  Although  bump  firing  does  not  require  any  additional