Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The nation’s top law dog. Ironically, he’s instructing ATF to color outside the lines to ban a device the agency has said on two separate occasions is a “firearm part,” not a “machinegun.” (Photo: DOJ)
Looks like president Trump and the NRA got their wish. The Dept. of Justice said Saturday that it will proceed with plans to ban “bump stock type devices.”
Does that just mean reciprocating stocks? Or does that also include trigger cranks, binary triggers, match-grade triggers, rubber bands, human fingers vis a vis Jerry Miculek? Answer: We’ll have to wait and see…
“President Trump is absolutely committed to ensuring the safety and security of every American and he has directed us to propose a regulation addressing bump stocks,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a press release.
“To that end, the Department of Justice has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a notice of a proposed regulation to clarify that the National Firearms and Gun Control Act defines ‘machinegun’ to include bump stock type devices,” Sessions continued.
The ATF via the DOJ is no longer just a regulatory agency. It appears now that it’s been promoted to a legislative body. Meaning it doesn’t need Congress to pass laws to prohibit lawfully owned property. It can do that on its own, especially when it has the public support of POTUS… Are you scared yet?
What’s crazy is that the ATF Association openly admitted that the agency did not have the power to regulate bump stocks. Congress would have to pass a law to restrict these devices because they are not, by definition, “machineguns” under the National Firearms Act.
SEE ALSO: NRA Gets Its Wish: ATF Will (Once Again) Review Legality of Bump Stocks
“These accessories DO NOT cause the firearm to shoot more than one shot by the single function of a trigger pull,” said the association of former and current ATF agents in October.
“The notion that ATF chose not to regulate an item it had the authority to regulate is false,” it continued. “The law is very clear and it does not currently allow ATF to regulate such accessories.”
Except now — magically — it does have that authority. When the president says “Do it,” looks like the minions have to find a way to get it done even though they had, on two separate occasions, determined just the opposite, e.g. Bump stocks are not machineguns! They’re firearm parts!
You know, Obama was often accused of ruling by executive fiat. Remember when Barry was looking to ban “green tip” ammo? That “back-door bullet ban,” that the NRA warned us about. Remember the nation’s gun lobby blasting Obama for wielding his “royal scepter of stolen executive power” and resorting to a “guerrilla campaign to liquidate the Second Amendment”?
I do. It’s all right here in this article.
Reality check. How is what Team Trump is doing with bump stocks any different than what Obama was attempting to do with M855, 5.56 mm “green-tip” ammunition?
The answer is… Heck, it’s the same damn thing! Strong-arming bureaucrats to enact gun, ammo, or accessory bans is wrong regardless of who is occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!!! It sets a horribly dangerous precedent. This administration has just officially weaponized the pencil pushers at the ATF. And if you’re not scared now. You should be.
All gun legislation is unlawful and anti-second amendment. Remember the part of keep and bear arms? Well, limiting arms or modifications to them isn’t in line with any of it. But, in the spirit of cooperation and safety I’m ok with banning bump stocks. It also has to stop there. Along with the ridiculous red tape that only applies to the law abiding. Time to draw a line in the sand against the grabbers. Their ultimate goal is to disarm America. THEY AREN’T SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE WHAT IS IN STORE FOR EVERYONE ONCE THAT HAPPENS. All the led by the nose and by adults, need to see the real picture. Manipulation and mis- leading traumatized youth using a series of tragedy’s is as low as it gets. Meanwhile the safety issue is not being addressed with security measures yet. Metal detectors and locked vestibules to allow school officials to scrutinize who comes into a school and what they are carrying isn’t in place. Protest for that!
Hello! When I bought a bump stock it came with a copy of the ATF decsision on why it was legal for my use under the current rules. So no “grey” area here either it is or it isn’t and ATF ruled that it isn’t. Anyone cannot just magically pick up a bump stock equipped weapon and make it fire like I a machine gun-I sure could not the best I could get was maybe a string of 4 or 5 shots at once with an AK 74. Then again I am an old fart. One thing I do know if someone wants to practice any semi auto with a plain old regular stock can be fired from the hip bump style. Politics, The sick and crazy in this world do much more damage to common sense than their bullets ever could accomplish.
I agree that bumpstocks are not machine guns, however, isn’t this a very gray area? Now before anyone grabs me by the ankles and dangles me out a 10 story window :-), I own 5 ARs and 2 AKs. 3 of my ARs are equipped with Bumpstocks, 4 if you include my S&W AR 15-22. My kids love shooting the 15-22 with the Bumpstock and its cheap to shoot.
I agree that due process needs to be followed, if its not, we have a much bigger problem on our hands!
Even though I own several Bumpstocks, I personally have wandered and kinda felt these devices were “gaming” the rules. To clarify, yes, due process must be followed but I don’t personally have any issue with rapid fire devices having regulations similar to full autos. The issue would be how to prevent competition triggers and such from being included as those definitely should be excluded from any additional regulations.
Just some brief thoughts/comments on the issue.
Stocks are not guns if words mean anything. Increasingly, in the Neo-liberal anti-intellectual US of 2018, words too are like Confederate monuments and destined for revision and banishment.
There should be due process and proper rule making.
Does this mean they will do a machine gun amnesty? Hope so.
A MG amnesty in this time dimension? A US-led war against Russia is far more likely.
Bump stocks were a Why Did They Allow Us To Own These. I don’t know but I better get on before they change their minds. You All know it, and now they are not going to be allowed. Simply, Buy The Stamp if you want burst fire.
Ha, it’s that easy, just buy the stamp…
We don’t even know if that will be allowed by this.
If you mean to just buy a class 3 AR or similar, good luck, check the cost out lately?
Seriously? Why did they allow us to own these? Because they don’t violate any law, that’s why! Perhaps you don’t see the need for them. I don’t own one, but hey if a few guys want one to blow off ammo on their farm or whatever, have at it. Your logic would stick us with muskets. Then again, you would have probably thought the British were okay and let’s not rile them up.
David Nielson has it just perfect!
Trump will trade a pawn for a queen every day of the week.
AND, when ATF regs go to court…we get our pawn back.
Win-win Be patient I think.
We would have been better off with the Sea Hag. Then rs would have opposed her and gunners would be up in arms. I campaigned for the turd in chief and got him a lot of votes but 2020 will get him a well deserved pink slip
I have a recoil pad on my Sharps single shot. Does that indicate it is a machine gun? This is as much reasoning as outlawing the bump stock. What next? Stupid people make stupid laws. Where did we go so wrong in selecting the people to govern this country? This stupidity has to be corrected for our future generations.
Huh? Even the marketing literature says a bump stock can almost triple the rate of fire. It harnesses the recoil energy and turns into a mechanical trigger pull…faster than your brain/body can do. And you compare that to a recoil pad on a single shot? I don’t care for the word stupid…but you do get my vote as a fine example.
Regulations are not laws; laws are rules that are enacted by a governing body, regulations are used to
codify the process of monitoring and enforcing the laws. Neither the ATF nor the DOJ can change what
constitutes the legal definition of a machine gun, Congress has to pass legislation to do that. Any law would
also not be able to make bump stocks purchased or possessed prior to the law illegal as that would be an
illegal ex post facto law, something that is expressly forbidden by Article I, section ix of the Constitution.
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.”
If they want to ban them like true machine guns were done, then have an amnesty period to open the books
and allow bump stocks to be added to the registry as machine guns.
Or, it could go the way of Akins and his Accelerator.
Seems like that for them to ban from PREVIOUS owners is a problem. WHY? Because a “regulation” like that is basically an EX POST FACTO law…And one other thing…WHY should we allow the government to have any weapons that we can’t carry on our person? WHY do they get to have machine guns and we don’t? Something is ass jack ackwards about this whole picture.
[Latin, “After-the-fact” laws.] Laws that provide for the infliction of punishment upon a person for some prior act that, at the time it was committed, was not illegal.
Ex post facto laws retroactively change the rules of evidence in a criminal case, retroactively alter the definition of a crime, retroactively increase the punishment for a criminal act, or punish conduct that was legal when committed. They are prohibited by Article I, Section 10, Clause 1, of the U.S. Constitution. An ex post facto law is considered a hallmark of tyranny because it deprives people of a sense of what behavior will or will not be punished and allows for random punishment at the whim of those in power.
The prohibition of ex post facto laws was an imperative in colonial America. The Framers of the Constitution understood the importance of such a prohibition, considering the historical tendency of government leaders to abuse power. As Alexander Hamilton observed, “[I]t is easy for men … to be zealous advocates for the rights of the citizens when they are invaded by others, and as soon as they have it in their power, to become the invaders themselves.” The desire to thwart abuses of power also inspired the Framers of the Constitution to prohibit bills of attainder, which are laws that inflict punishment on named individuals or on easily ascertainable members of a group without the benefit of a trial. Both ex post facto laws and bills of attainder deprive those subject to them of due process of law—that is, of notice and an opportunity to be heard before being deprived of life, liberty, or property.
Also check out what NRA and chump support, guilty until proven innocent via “protection orders” that steal your weapons before you even get a hearing or trial
You know…….full auto machines guns were legal to buy and own until the government started taking away our gun rights back in the 30’s. The government had no right to take them away then……nor should they now. They just throw you in jail if you dont follow their sheeple ways. They may be able to get away with the “stamp” fee but the right shall not be infringed! Thats what it means, then and now! The law that needs to be passed is that no more laws should be passed on the 2nd amendment. It needs to be written that no more dems can even bring it up again.
The ATF already reviewed this stock and determined it WAS NOT a machine gun and with every stock sold came a certified statement claiming it was leagle to own.thats the biggest problem with this government, NO ONE can stand and enforce the laws we already have on the books. !! As for our President, I’m extremely disappointed in him to go against our set laws and us American’s !! Shame on you President Trump.
Wake up guys. There is no “right” or “left”, there is no difference between D and R. It’s all theater to keep the masses (that’s you) working against each other, rooting for you chosen “side” while both sides stick it up your ass. Oh, and the NRA? They see you as nothing more than their cash cow. You don’t have to believe me, believe your own eyes. Wayne LaPierre says thanks to all of you who funded his 1.1 MILLION a year salary.
Actually it’s 5 million, and he has a 4 million dollar golden parachute. It’s all a scam to finalize the global plantation and there’s only one way home
I have been preaching this same content to anyone who would listen for decades! You are absolutely correct.
Well, if the NRA allows them to pass this and any more laws, it shows that they are not 100% for us gun owners. My guess is they will start loosing members and then guns will slowly be taken away from us.
Stop already with the “confiscation” bullshit. That’s the same fear-porn that the NRA uses to take your money. Here is the truth, the government is not “comin’ fer yer gunz”. Here’s why, they DON’T FEAR GUN OWNERS. That’s right, they don’t fear gun owners, not one little bit. In fact, gun “rights” are about the least infringed upon of all of your civil rights. The first amendment barely exists anymore, the fourth does not exist any more in actual practice yet, you big, bad 2A “defenders” have done nothing to protect those rights. You all just need something to get spun up about when NASCAR and rasslin’ aren’t on. Those “bad-asses” in Louisiana after Katrina sounded real cool with their tough talk, while they were wearing zip-cuffs after handing their guns over.
The NRA is always crowing about how His Orangeness is the most pro-Second Amendment President ever. Maybe they are right because this is the sort of “well regulat[ion]” prescribed by the Founding Fathers! What an odd feeling, to approve of the actions of both NRA and President Trump in one day.
Why would you approve of Trump and the NRA on this?
You like abuse of power?
Is it really an abuse of power, though? While I do respect the system of checks and balances between the branches of government, at least one precedent does spring to mind. In 1994, then-Secretary of the Treasury and former Senator from Texas Lloyd Bentsen reclassified a handful of shotguns as destructive devices. The ATF at the time was part of the Treasury Department (because they started out as tax enforcers) and so the modern counterpart would be the Attorney General after the BATFE was transferred to the Department of Justice in 2002 under George W. Bush.
If this is truly an abuse of power, then this time the ends justify the means. Something needs to be done with these more-or-less counterfeit machineguns floating around out there. Pistol braces must be next!
Yes, it is an abuse of power. Obviously.
And you support a government abusing its power?
You’re completely transparent and an absolute imbecile.
You got the “dog” part fits. I’ve kicked plenty of worthless dogs in my lifetime. And they were worthy of it.
And to round all these up and get them off the street and out of the hands of their owners, they should create a regulation allowing Law Enforcement to enter any home at any time to conduct a search for them. Any other contraband found would also result in arrest as well. After all, the end justifies the means right?
Blue Dog is a domestic enemy
Blue Dog,
Respectfully from all of us at GA, please get out of my country. You and yours are the reason why we are headed towards a situation where the Government will hold absolute power over citizens’ private lives. You and your ilk claim to respect the Constitution but you trample all over it with your words and actions’. If you hate this country and freedom so much, leave and never come back. I hope you and all your like minded snakes die out sooner than later!
-Mr.Liberty
Why should Blue Dog leave “your” country Mr. Liberty? Why are you blaming him and his ilk for what is clearly the result of inaction on the part of all of you “Super 2A Defenders of Freedumb”? You claim that the purpose of your beloved 2A is to throw off the “shackles of a tyrannical gubment” so I ask, how much more “tyranny” are you and YOUR ilk going to tolerate? Lead the way tough guy.
The NRA screwed us, they got this ball rolling. After three decades of NRA membership, I’m done. LaPierre needs to go.
No difference between this and the green tip ban, maybe a worse one actually. Sounds like this will cover manufacturing, selling, transferring, and ownership. Can’t imagine a more restrictive thing coming from a Republican administration with nary a peep from congressional leadership, also Republican controlled.
Whether you like bump stocks or not,
this process and the lack of push back from politicians to the NRA, should bother you.
Speaking of the NRA, where are you?
Sorry, meant “and the NRA”
NRA sold us out, I’m done with them!GOA will file suit from what I heard yesterday.We still have time to raise cane about this and everyone who cares about the 2nd A needs to get involved.This is about so much more than bump stocks!
“This is about so much more than bump stocks!”
How do you figure? How many responsible gun owners do you know actually own one of these things? I get that rapid fire is fun, but there is just no way to use a bump stock’s rapid fire function and still shoot accurately… So why should any reasonable gun owner care if bump stocks are banned?
Your attitude is the exact reason the Christian Science Monitor recently compared today’s NRA to what Big Tobacco was in the 1980s. If the NRA continues to take the extreme position you advocate against even a token concession to those Americans who don’t understand our passion for the 2A, it will eventually erode the political strength of that long standing American Institution… If that were to ever happen, we can all kiss 2A goodbye. If that sounds far fetched to you, then you weren’t old enough during the 1980’s to remember the strength of the tobacco lobby at its peak.
Yeah, keep compromising Ricky B and see where that gets you! Go visit CA you idiot!
Oh ye of little faith, Trump has set a trap for the demokraps and you guys have completely missed how he did so.
In the first week of Trumps administration, he issued an executive order freezing all new federal regulations.
He used a 2 for 1 rule in that executive order.
That means that is ANY new regulations are proposed, they must repeal 2 existing regulations within the statute affected provided it has no affect on national security.
Oh geez, what statute would banning bump stocks effect, why the NFA 34 law controlling machine guns, suppressors, SBR’s….etc, etc….
Oh thats right, the same suppressors and SBR’s that currently require a tax stamp, the same suppressors and SBR’s that the ATF memo in 2017 idenitifed as not being an issue for criminal abuse.
What proposed bill has been stalled by demokraps in congress, why the hearing protection act, you know, the one changing the SBR’s and suppressors to non NFA tax stamp items, changing them to across the counter like normal pistols and rifles….AH YES, THAT ONE.
So who are you idiots to infer that the Hearing Protection Act wont be fast tracked now through congress eh?
Oh wait, the trap, see anti gun demokraps will be loathe to allow SBR’s and suppressors to become non tax stamp items, and that being true, there is a fine chance they will in turn reject the offer of bump stocks being made machine gun items.
Just think of the political fallout against the demokraps in the upcoming midterms, rejecting new gun control law eh, its rather delicious those fascists being caught in a catch 22 secnario eh.
Now since the fascists are also targeting age 21, that has some much larger legal landmines to negotiate, but its still falls under that executive order. Geez what would be repealed out of the staute governing age limits on buying guns, why geez, we only see national reciprocity, and may issue in states like NY, CA, etc, etc….
Wouldnt it be horrible to gut the anti gun fascists hold on those states by doing just that.
Then of course we see that US Suprem court rulings on the age of 18 being considered an adult, and age discriminatory rulings galore like Craig vs Boren 1971. As witnessed by the multiple law suits already occuring in states where they are trying that backdoor move in state lefislature or business entities to change the age to 21 for long guns.
Details details details, you guys sure are missing the context and details of such moves as clearly Trump could add just such an amendment to the Hearing Protection Act.
But then the demokrap anti gun fascists REALLY dont want federal reciprocity and SHALL ISSUE in those 9 commie controlled states now do they.
And GASP they would turn down yet another offer of GUN CONTROL COMPROMISE…..handing further control to the Republicans in the mid term elections coming up this year. That control then becomes vene more powerful when one considers how many federal and suprem court judge appointees are now open to fill, by a Trump administration.
You all just got to look at the big picture a little clearer
@David Nielsen:
You my friend, have a very optimistic outlook on this whole ordeal.
Unfortunately for the rest of us with battered gun-owner syndrome, we fully expect history to repeat itself in giving us the mother of all shafts, again.
I like what you have to say, but Trump, if you look at his record as a business man flip flops worse then a dying fish on a pier.
Unicorn farts are pixie dust too.
Bump Stocks have zero impact on bump firing, besides the fact that they were invented to make it safe and controllable. They don’t facilitate, cause, or modify anything about the gun that would make it more or less able to be bump fired. Can do it with no stock at all… Just dangerously… It’s a ban on safety enhancements.
It’s sophistry and conflation. If they can get away with this, wiping away the 2nd amendment will be the least of your concerns. The content and subject matter of the law don’t even matter, given that it’s total gibberish. It can mean anything they want it to mean.
Dustin Edward,
You hit the nail on the head! Bump stocks were actually made to provide a safe way to bump fire weapons as people had been doing so, relatively unsafely/uncontrollably, for years prior to their invention. Hell, it is not too difficult to make one at home or just use some other tool like a belt loop or rubber band to recreate the same effect. I asked my local senators and representatives “Besides the Vegas incident where one was allegedly used, when has one ever been used in a crime?” because they passed a bill to ban and confiscate them in my state, but not one person could answer the question. Why? Probably because they hadn’t even heard of one before last October. How do you fight ignorance and stupidity with facts when the opposition doesn’t care about the truth? Anyway keep on fighting for what’s right Dustin!
Respectfully,
Mr.Liberty
Your comment needs some changes ie there are 100s of thousands of Slidefire and Bump Fire stock out there..how do I know? 9 years marketing a few 1000 as far as accuracy the 1/2″motion dissapates energy and allows dramatic accuracy.