What To Know About Bump Stocks, The Firearm Modification That Republicans Are Open To Banning
While searching the hotel room of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 others in Las Vegas on Sunday, investigators found 12 semi-automatic rifles outfitted with bump stocks, among other weapons. Bump stocks are devices that enable semi-automatic firearms to fire at a rate comparable to that of machine guns. Now, legislators and even the NRA are signaling openness to revisiting the regulatory loophole that allow bump stocks to be sold. Here's what's going on.
Bump Stocks Are Attachments That Let Semi-Automatic Rifles Fire As Quickly As Machine Guns (Which Are Illegal)
Fully automatic weapons like machine guns have been illegal for civilians to own since 1986. Bump stocks — also called bump-fire stocks or slide-fire adaptors — are accessories that can be attached to semi-automatic rifles to make them shoot at a speed comparable to that of machine guns.
Bump stocks are simple pieces of equipment that replace the stock of a rifle and add a small "support step" in front of the trigger. The shooter rests his finger on this step and pulls forward on the barrel or forward grip to press the trigger against his finger. The recoil of the shot then propels the rifle backwards into a gap in stationary stock where the loose fit gives the rifle freedom to bounce forward. This, along with sustained forward pressure on the rifle, has the effect of 'bumping' the trigger back into the shooter's unmoving finger. So long as a shooter maintains forward pressure, the rifle will continue to fire at a rate much faster than could be accomplished with even the quickest possible series of manual trigger pulls.
Bump Stocks Were Deemed Legal By The Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives In 2010
After looking into bump stocks in 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined that they were legal under current law, since they do not technically make a weapon fully automatic.
In marketing the devices, two Texas companies, Bump Fire Systems and Slide Fire Solutions, were apparently concerned that they would not be legal. But in June 2010, after an inquiry from Slide Fire, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or A.T.F., sent a letter saying that the company's bump stock product "is a firearm part and is not regulated as a firearm under the Gun Control Act or the National Firearms Act."
They Are Banned At Many Firing Ranges For Safety Reasons
Politico reported this week that bump stocks are banned at many firing ranges, including the range at National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.
Firing ranges typically limit the rate at which guns are fired for safety reasons, said Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights organization.
"If someone is not trained to fire rapidly they may miss, frankly, and hit things like the ceiling of the range and other areas which could cause damage and safety issues," Valone said… The bump-stock system is useless for target practice and not widely used by gun enthusiasts, he said.
[Politico]
Gun Control Proponent Dianne Feinstein Introduced A Bill To Ban Bump Stocks This Week
On Wednesday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who has long advocated for stricter gun control measures, introduced legislation that would ban the sale of bump stocks.
According to a copy of the bill text provided to ABC, it would go into effect 180 days after its passage.
"It shall be unlawful for any person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a trigger crank, a bump-fire device or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun," the bill states.
[ABC News]
A Number Of Republican Lawmakers Have Expressed Openness To Talking About A Bump Stock Ban
Texas Senator John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican Senator after Mitch McConnell, expressed openness this week to having a hearing on bump stocks.
"It is ordinarily illegal to transform a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic weapon, and it's illegal to buy an automatic weapon unless you have a special license and undergo a special background check," Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. "I'm not sure how these bump stocks fit into that scheme, but that's certainly something that's got my attention and I think we ought to get to the bottom of it."
[Politico]
Senators John Thune (R-SD), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and David Perdue (R-GA) have made similar comments expressing openness to learning more about bump stocks and perhaps discussing a ban.
Over in the House of Representatives, Majority Leader Paul Ryan and other Republicans also signaled openness to legislation restricting the availability of gun stocks.
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, Ryan told Hugh Hewitt in an interview for his MSNBC show that "clearly that's something we need to look into."
Ryan's comments come as one senior House GOP member told CNN enough House Republicans are likely to agree to a push for legislation that would ban bump stocks that something could pass in the GOP-controlled House.
[CNN]
Today, The NRA Released A Statement Saying That Bump Stocks 'Should Be Subject To Additional Regulations'
Though the National Rifle Association did not endorse legislation banning bump stocks, it did say that ATF ought to revisit its ruling that bump stocks are legal under current law.
Despite the fact that the Obama administration approved the sale of bump fire stocks on at least two occasions, the National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law. The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.
The NRA also reiterated its support for "National Right-To-Carry reciprocity," which would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons from state to state, circumventing state laws that prohibit concealed weapons.
Sales Of Bump Stocks Have Skyrocketed Since The Las Vegas Shooting, As Often Happens After Mass Shootings
Some national retailers, like Walmart, removed bump stock listings from their websites this week, but other vendors faced soaring demand, as gun enthusiasts feared that their right to buy bump stocks might be curtailed in the future.
The website for one manufacturer, Bump Fire Systems, was down on Thursday. The company wrote on its Facebook page that its servers had been overwhelmed by "high traffic volume."
Another maker, Slide Fire, said on its website that it had suspended taking new orders to focus on existing orders after earlier saying that it was out of stock "due to extreme high demands."
