Colorado Politics

Gun ‘bump stocks’ to become illegal this week

The Justice Department said Tuesday that it has amended Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives regulations to clarify that bump-stock-type devices are “machine guns,” and are thus illegal.

A Justice Department official told the Washington Examiner that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker signed the rule Tuesday morning, and it should be published and thus official by Friday.

It will take effect 90 days after that.

Individuals who possess bump stock devices will then have 90 days to either turn them in to authorities or destroy them. After that point, it will be illegal to own then.

No compensation will be given in return for the devices.

Bump stocks were thrust into the spotlight after an October 2017 shooting at a concert in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 400 people injured.

The attack, the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. committed by a single individual, reignited the debate about gun laws and bump stocks after authorities found the shooter, Stephen Paddock, used the device to turn his semi-automatic rifle into one that shot similarly to a fully automatic gun.

“The department … has revised the definition of ‘single function of the trigger’ to mean ‘single pull of the trigger’ and analogous motions, taking into account that there are other methods of initiating an automatic firing sequence that do not require a pull,” the new rule reads. “This final rule also informs current possessors of bump-stock-type devices of the proper methods of disposal, including destruction by the owner or abandonment to ATF.”

In October, President Trump said at a news conference that he told the National Rifle Association that “bump stocks are gone.”

“And over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be able to write it up,” Trump said.

It is unclear how the gun rights group will respond to the final rule.

After the Las Vegas shooting, the NRA initially said it supported an ATF review of bump stock devices, but also said it wanted Congress to pass a law that would allow concealed-carry permit holders to carry the weapons in all 50 states.

A bump stock is attached to a semi-automatic rifle at a gun store and shooting range in South Jordan, Utah.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)
Rick Bowmer

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