Banning Bump Stocks? Not so Fast…

Photo from Patton Media and Consulting

THE CASE AGAINST ATF'S PROPOSED DEFINITION CHANGE

Earlier this week, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF) announced that their extensive, 923-page opposition comment was filed with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) regarding the agency’s proposed rulemaking to ban “bump-stock” devices. The FPC Comment and its 35 exhibits can be viewed online in their entirety at https://www.firearmspolicy.org/fpc-fpf-opposition-atf-bump-stock-ban.

Exhibit 28 featured a video produced by the author and Jonathan Patton of The Gun Collective. The exhibit is comprised of several different scenarios. The first sequence is with the Slide Fire stock in a locked position, which would be the same as any collapsable stock used on an AR-15. The gun was shot and filmed in high speed from three different angles to show the function of the trigger. As seen in the video, a single trigger pull results in one round being fired and then the trigger resets.

The gun was then fired one-handed with the stock unlocked (so it could slide back and forth freely). The purpose of this was to show that the Slide Fire stock did not change the function of the firearm. Part of ATF's contention in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was that “ATF has determined that these devices initiate an ‘automatic' firing cycle sequence ‘by a single function of the trigger' because the device is the primary impetus for a firing sequence that fires more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger.”

As the video shows, once again, a single function of the trigger results in one round being discharged. The trigger must be reset and then pulled again to fire a second round. This was, again, captured in slow motion from three different angles.

The last sequence shows the product being used as intended. Slow motion footage was used to capture the trigger from three different angles and clearly shows that the trigger resetting between each shot.

ATF also contended that “[t]he statutory definition of machinegun includes bump-stock-type devices—irrespective of whether the devices harness recoil energy using a mechanism like an internal spring or in conjunction with the shooter's maintenance of pressure—because these devices enable a semiautomatic firearm to fire ‘automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.'” However, video evidence clearly shows that the Slide Fire stock did not allow the firearm to fire “automatically more than one shot…by a single function of the trigger.” The footage from the second sequence clearly shows such.

Even more problematic for the ATF, as discussed in the Comment, is that they previously argued in federal court that a bump stock was NOT a machine gun.

Should ATF implement any sort of final rule based on this rulemaking, the video exhibit can be used in court to attack ATF's position as to why a Bump Stock is a “machine gun”.

If you want to view the video release on The Gun Collective which has commentary, it is embedded below:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Kraut is a firearms law attorney practicing in southeastern PA and across the country federally. He hosts The Legal Brief, a show dedicated to crushing the various myths and misinformation around various areas of the gun world and The Gun Collective Podcast. He was also the general manager of a gun store in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

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