I’m not sure it’s so far-fetched. From everything I’ve seen, the ATF has generally been pretty reasonable and practical in its legal interpretations in recent years, even during the Obama years. Do you think an activist ATF would ever have allowed 80% receivers and AR pistols in the first place?
They proposed the rule classifying bump stocks as “machine guns,” but only after the White House and the AG insisted they do so. We have Trump and Sessions to blame for that more than the ATF itself. They previously repeatedly told the Obama Administration that bump stocks were not machineguns and could not be regulated under the NFA.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think the ATF should exist at all, but I haven’t seen a lot of evidence that it is staffed with committed gun-grabbers in recent years.
Absolutely, NRA, Sessions and the president are to blame for this mess.
Couple of thoughts.
1. Strong case can be made that ATF never had any business evaluating accessories, because they are not firearms.
2. But now what will happen? There would seem to be two forces in play:
— without approval letters, vendors and purchasers could be afraid to buy something new
— but without disapproval letters on new designs, a lot more accessories might get purchased. If enough are purchased, there won’t be any option to ban.
So now, what if a NEW bumpstock design enters the market by some other name?