Bump stocks, which allow rifles to mimic automatic weapons, are now illegal to own, buy or sell

[DonViejo]

Source: USA Today



Brittany Crocker and Nick Penzenstadler, Knoxville News Sentinel Published 7:13 a.m. ET March 26, 2019 | Updated 8:50 a.m. ET March 26, 2019

Owning, buying, selling, or otherwise transferring a bump stock, a device that allows rifles to mimic automatic weapons, becomes illegal Tuesday, when a federal ban goes into effect.

An October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 prompted action on bump stocks by President Donald Trump. In February 2018, Trump instructed the attorney general to regulate their use and in December, Justice Department officials issued the ban, giving owners 90 days to either turn bump stocks over to federal agents or melt, shred or crush them.

Bump stocks combine two legal devices, a plastic stock and a firearm, that together function like a machine gun. The bump stock harnesses the recoil of the rifle to accelerate trigger pulls, technically “bumping” the trigger for each shot after it bounces off the shooter’s shoulder.

In February, a U.S. District judge in Washington rejected challenges to the ban.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/26/bump-stock-ban-where-to-turn-in-knox-atf/3274917002/

[IronLionZion]

1. We had one mass shooting with bump stocks

it's great that they finally banned such a ridiculous device.

But we have lots of mass shootings with semiautomatics and large capacity magazines from mentally unstable people and not much is done to strengthen the laws for that.

[Maxheader]

2. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

to show there may be some humanity and caring for lives...

[jmowreader]

3. The only good thing Trump has done

The only reason I can think of the NRA would allow bump stocks to be banned is in exchange for a Trump pledge to leave black guns and ultra high capacity magazines alone.

[Karadeniz]

4. So if creating the effect of an automatic weapon is illegal, why also isn't the automatic

weapon?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Automatic weapons are legal, with proper checks and license (tax? stamp?)

Converting semi-auto to full auto is illegal without all that extra paperwork. Now the law says that a bump stock is one method of turning a semi-auto into a fully automatic gun.

The price for all the federal paperwork for full auto is steep, but if you can afford all the ammunition that's wasted, maybe it's affordable.

[Scruffy1]

6. It's complicated.

Cuurently it is legal to own a machine gunand transfer them with the appropiate licensing. They are very carefully controlled and have to be made before 1986 IIRC. As far as bumpstocks are concerned you can do close to the same thing with a rubber band. It's a small move to ban bump stocks bu I think all repeating weapons would be a good start on eleminating our gun problem. The only real answer is getting rid of guns and that is not going to happen anytime soon.

[RussBLib]

7. Thank you, Donald Trump

It is truly one of the only good things he has done as president. But I am really sorry that Trump has turned out to be such a horrible president in practically every other way.

[Polybius]

8. This and no wars

Yet at least.