Trump’s DoJ Orders Confiscation of Bump Stocks
Luke Rohlfing
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Own a bump stock? You have 90 days to turn them all in, or face jail time for owning a “machine gun.”
The Trump Administration, at the behest of organizations like the National Rifle Association and Everytown for Gun Safety, have implemented the long awaited rule banning the firearm accessories.
As Big League Politics reported back in February, President Donald Trump’s call for banning bump stocks comes on the heel of the NRA supporting a ban on the accessory after the Las Vegas shooting.
Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump announced he has directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ban “bump stocks.” A “bump stock” is a firearm accessory which uses the recoil of the firearm to allow it to be fired more rapidly than usually achievable on its own.
This move was surprising to most Second Amendment-supporting Trump supporters. But in reality, it shouldn’t have been. The National Rifle Association (NRA), who spent over $30 million supporting Trump’s run for President, has a long record of supporting gun control, especially in the past year.
Immediately following last years Las Vegas shooting that left 58 people dead, the NRA called for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) to look into bump stocks, and review whether they comply with Federal law. In the statement, the NRA also expressed their support for additional regulations on bump stocks, falling short of declaring their support for a full ban.
So the news from today shouldn’t be overly surprising to anybody.
For gun rights supporters, it is an act of betrayal from a President who ran claiming he would be the most pro-gun President in modern history.
The ban itself goes farther than many were expecting it to.
In order to ban “bump stocks,” it changes their entire classification from being a simple gun accessory, with no real special classification, to being a machine gun, therefore being highly illegal to possess.
Those who currently own a bump stock, which the Department of Justice believes to be tens of thousands of individuals, will have ninety days to turn them in to the ATF or destroy them.
“People who posses them will be required to destroy them, or they may turn them in to ATF [within] 90 days,” the order says.
BREAKING — Justice Department is issuing its final rule today that bans bump stocks, according to DOJ official, who tells reporters there are 10s of thousands in US.
"People who posses them will be required to destroy them, or they may turn them in to ATF [within] 90 days.” pic.twitter.com/jIfbf74TWi
— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) December 18, 2018
It is this portion that is causing the NRA to back away from the ban they were the ones championing.
They wanted to have a sort of “grandfathering” process for those who currently own the devices, as stated by the NRA’s Jennifer Baker:
“We are disappointed that this final rule fails to address the thousands of law-abiding Americans who relied on prior ATF determinations when lawfully acquiring these devices. As we recommended to the ATF in our comments on the proposed rule Congress made it possible for the Attorney General to provide amnesty for firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act. The Attorney General should have exercised that authority to provide a period of amnesty under this rule.”
It seems that the NRA is trying to have their cake, and eat it too.
Despite being a major factor in the ban being in effect, they also want to have gun owners look at them as defenders of the Second Amendment. But they can’t have it both ways.
But not all organizations professing to support the Second Amendment were supporting the ban. Both the National Association for Gun Rights, and Gun Owners of America have been fighting it since day one.
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