ATF says it can’t control bump stocks
WASHINGTON — Efforts to ban bump stocks have come to a screeching halt, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives once again indicating it does not have the authority to reclassify and regulate the devices.
The ATF wrote letters in 2010 and 2013 explaining how current laws — the Gun Control Act (1968) and National Firearms Act (1934) — do not provide an avenue for the bureau to regulate the gun attachments, which enable shooters to fire semiautomatic weapons at nearly the rate of automatic ones.
Four years later, that has not changed. A decade has gone by since Congress last passed a gun law.
“The ATF does NOT have the authority to address bump-fire stocks — and has made this point clear to Congress MULTIPLE times,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein tweeted Friday after lawmakers were briefed by the bureau. The California Democrat reintroduced a bill, the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act, earlier this month to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of bump stocks and similar devices. She has been working to secure a GOP co-sponsor for her bill, a Democratic aide said, but so far hasn’t found any takers.
“She’s also working to ensure senators understand the need for legislation and that ATF can’t address this issue on its own,” the aide said. “The (National Rifle Association) has claimed otherwise in an attempt to muddy the waters.”
The NRA initially surprised gun control advocates when it released a statement saying bump stocks and similar devices “should be subject to additional regulations.” But the group said that was an issue best left to the ATF — which lacks the legal authority to act on it. The NRA has opposed each piece of legislation lawmakers have introduced so far.
The NRA did not follow up on a request for comment Tuesday.