Posted on 12/08/2018 8:00:33 AM PST by Simon Green
President Trump made up his mind some time ago to ban bump stocks, the woefully ineffective firearm accessory regrettably used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Recently, though, reports from CNN and the New York Times indicate that the Trump administration is poised to implement a ban on these devices in the coming days. There are two major issues with this: they can’t legally do it, and it’s dumb.
Still, you may remember the media storm around bump stocks last year. Deserved or not, a proposition to ban bump stocks seemed to have bipartisan support, but Congress couldn’t agree on a way to ban or regulate the devices, so the momentum petered out.
Perhaps in search of mythical bipartisanship points, Trump ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to craft a new administrative rule banning the devices. This might seem odd to anyone who has managed to stay awake through a single civics class or a third of an episode of “Schoolhouse Rock.” That’s because this attempt to bypass the legislature is completely out of line with the law.
Bump Stocks Are Not Machine Guns
For better or for worse, the DOJ was given the authority to regulate machine guns with the National Firearms Act of 1934 and Gun Control Act of 1968. These laws specifically define a “machine gun,” and over the last 10 years several administrations have reviewed bump stocks and repeatedly determined that they do not fall in that category.
But, when faced with an opportunity for political expediency in the wake of the Vegas shooting, President Trump basically demanded the DOJ pretend as if bump stocks—a shaped piece of plastic—somehow now fall within the legal definition of “machine gun.” This is absurd.
Imagine there were a law giving the DOJ the authority to regulate blue cars, and that for decades the DOJ agreed with the reasonable proposition that green cars were not included in the definition of “blue cars,” and thus could not regulate them. Then imagine that a tragedy involving a green car occurs, and the DOJ is suddenly of the opinion that green is actually a shade of blue.
That is exactly what is happening here. Under federal law, a “machine gun” is a device “which shoots … automatically more than one shot … by a single function of the trigger.” A bump stock, on the other hand, functions with repeated actuations of a trigger.
If the government really wants to regulate bump stocks (which they shouldn’t), they need to do it by passing a new law, not by assigning new meaning to an old one. This whole point should be moot, though, because of the fact that bump stocks are not actually uniquely dangerous compared to other guns. Hollywood and video games have convinced the American public that the faster people can fire, the more deadly they can be. Reality, though, is a bit more nuanced.
How Do Bump Stocks Actually Work?
A gun’s usable rate of fire is limited by its recoil. Unlike a truck, bomb, or knife, when a firearm is discharged, it deviates from its course and needs to be re-aimed before it can fire again effectively. A gun that fires 10,000 rounds per minute is no more useful than a regular rifle if the gun is pointing in the air after the first shot. This is why not even our military regularly uses fully automatic “machine gun” fire in standard rifles—they’re just not nearly as deadly or effective as they sound.
In reality, there is no gun that is more or less safe when misused against innocent people. The American people think it’s reasonable to ban something like a bump stock because it is “like a machine gun” only because of a fundamentally flawed conception of how firearms actually work.
We need to remember that any time we want to ban something, it comes at a tremendous cost. President Trump is wasting not only time and sidestepping the law with this proposal, he is betraying his promise to protect gun rights—with no benefit to public safety.
“First it was our Bump Stocks” - Sound Familiar?
I think the Pig and the Cryin’ one have him by the nads!
The ATF is defining bump stocks as a machine gun. A machine gun is defined is a weapon that can be fired multiple times by a single pull of the trigger. Using a bump stock the trigger is pulled multiple times. There is no automatic sear in civilian rifles. You can go here to understand that: https://www.wideopenspaces.com/what-a-drop-in-registered-auto-sear-actually-is/
The ATF is basically lying. Trump ordered them to lie. When I see gun control rolled back and the Wall built, I’ll be be able to know whether his propensity is politically genetic or not.
It's quite revealing that as recently as a few years ago on Democratic Underground, the standard reply to the rare poster defending gun rights there was, "Don't be ao paranoid, no one wants to take any of your guns. We just want to ban sales and transfers of assault weapons and high capacity magazines."
Now, it's "Confiscate all semiautos from their cold dead hands! Every single one!"
So if Freepers don't chit about it, then how exactly are they to learn? Talking is what helps people learn. I for one have always encouraged people to communicate about their differences of opinion. Since there is really no actual conversion into automatic taking place, then it cannot be considered as such, regardless that there will always be people who will abuse it. Just like muscle cars that are capable of extremely high speeds, there are those that will only use that extra power at the race track, while others will endanger other drivers to enjoy that awesome power at the end of their foot.
As an American citizen, I want nothing that will obstruct people from protecting themselves from bad guys/girls, as well as, bad government. I therefore wish the President wouldn't ban them, but the concept of how it is done is not banned, so smart people will figure out how to replicate the results, using other tools. It's really a pretty easy concept, and not hard to figure out how to replicate using alternative methods. Like one person suggested, a bungee cord can be used to create the same results.
Unless I am mistaken, you can own a fully automatic machine gun if you get the proper Federal Permit. Why not do that for bump stocks?
Not in all States, the Fed stamp is fairly reasonable cost wise, the selective fire arms,not so much.
Full autos made after 1986 aren't legal.
It’s like banning a padded shooting jacket. It’s not a gun, it’s a piece of plastic with a piece of common elastic attached that anyone can make at home.
A gun can be bump fired without it.
Pffht.
Notice though he has not banned bump stocks 1 year after the Las Vegas shooting. So he is not just acting unilaterally to ban them. What is he doing exactly to ban them?
Here is President Trump at a news briefing back in Oct. 2018. He thought it would be 2 or 3 weeks back then to finally enact the ban. Perhaps he is finding that banning them is not really possible? At least he is going through procedures, and not creating his own laws. Also, the NRA said they would not fight a ban.
So everyone needs to wait until it happens, and how it happens, if it happens. As it stands right now, bump stocks are still allowed to be bought & sold.
The Hughes amendment to the FOPA banned the manufacture of transferable machine guns after May 19, ‘86. If bumpfire stocks are declared to be MGs they will not be eligible to be registered unless there is an ammesty period, which under the Demoncrats will never happen. For the brave soul who is willing to potentially lose his 2nd amendment rights along with his voting rights there is probably a good SCOTUS case under the takings clause, but the risk of losing is quite real, given that Roberts would likely vote with the libs.
You are incorrect. He is NOT going through procedures. Full auto weapons are precisely defined in law, and ATF correctly defermined that bumpfire stocks did mot comvert a firearm to full auto . By declaring bumpfire stocks to be machine guns ATF would be effectively assuming the role of congress in writing legislation. If this is allowed to stand the potential damage would be enormous, and not limited to firearms and the 2nd amendment.
Yes, Lightning Links are easy to make, but unlike bumpfire stocks they do in fact convert a semi auto to a full auto, and as I mentioned in another post transferable MGs cannot be manufactured after May 19, ‘86. The other significant downside of LLs is that they are full auto only.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IOZ-5Nk5k
GREAT unbiased video about a bump stock installed on an AR-15.
It’s a video demonstration of an AR without bump stock vs an AR with bump stock.
Full speed and slow-mo comparison video.
I will say this. This bump stock turns this AR essentially into an automatic weapon. NO DOUBT!
I’m not arguing the “legal” definition of “automatic” or the 2nd amendment.
IF you believe that “automatic” weapons should be legal, then bump stocks are fine with you.
IF you believe that “automatic” weapons should be illegal, then bump stocks should be illegal.
White/Black. The rest is just noise.
Please don’t comment unless you actually watch the video.
Oh, I didn’t realize this was the same video!
GREAT UNBIASED VIDEO! EVERYONE should watch it.
What you say is true, and that is exactly why he is going through procedures. What those procedures actually involve, I have no clue, but he is indeed not just making law from his pen. In fact, you can still legally buy a bump stock.
You’re missing the poimt. Trump directed DOJ and ATF to ban bumpfire stocks. When ATF implements a regulation they first issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which states what the new regulation will be and when it will become effective. The Notice also includes a comment period, when the serfs are allowed to talk back to their betters. In rare cases ATF has actually changed the proposed rule due to feedback. The issue here is that ATF has been directed to change the legislated definition of a machine gun through regulatory action. Constitutionally, this MUST be done by congress.
true enough and your club is welcome to ban them.
the federal situation is exactly as this excellent article describes.
because they do not fire more than one projectile per trigger pull
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.