By Dan Zimmerman via TTAG
As has been long anticipated, the Trump administration has announced that bump fire stocks have officially been banned. The plastic rifle accessories will be regulated and treated by the ATF the same as machine guns are under the National Firearms Act.
Under a new federal rule, those who possess the devices, commonly known as bump stocks, will get 90 days to turn them in from the date that the final rule is published in the federal register, which is likely Friday, the officials said.
Re-classification of bump stocks and NFA-style regulation by ATF fiat sets a dangerous precedent for gun rights (read Luis Valdes’ post on this here). A number of gun rights organizations have promised to sue if and when the administration re-classified bump stocks (because the move is, you know, illegal) and you can expect to see that as soon as the rule is published in the Federal Register and officially becomes law.
As Luis Valdes notes, acting attorney general Matt Whitaker signed the new rule.
KSTP.com obtained the following DOJ memo regarding the ban and bump stock disposal a couple of weeks ago:
Stay tuned.