Justice Dept. moving to ban bump stocks
Step is first in process to make device illegal to manufacture, own or sell
The Justice Department moved forward on Saturday with plans to ban bump stock devices and make them illegal to own or sell.
The move comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that instructed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to regulate the devices, which allow some guns to fire at a rate that mimics an automatic firearm.
On Saturday, Sessions announced his office submitted a notice to the Office of Management and Budget that would clarify the definition of “machine gun” and add bump stocks to the list of devices banned.
The notice is one of the first steps in banning bump stocks. After approved by the office, the department said it will “seek to publish this notice as expeditiously as possible.”
The order would prohibit people from owning the devices or selling them and stop companies from manufacturing them.
Bump stocks were found among the weapons used in the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people Oct.1. Such bump-fire devices use the recoil of a semiautomatic firearm to rapidly pull the trigger, mimicking fully automatic firing.
The Vegas shooting, the deadliest in recent U.S. history, reignited the conversation on whether the devices are legal.
Congress banned the sale and manufacture of machine guns for civilian use in 1986, and machine guns in circulation before then are tightly regulated, limited in number and expensive.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has debated the devices for years and has issued a
Bump stocks were found among the weapons used in the Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people Oct. 1. The Vegas shooting, the deadliest in recent U.S. history, reignited the conversation on whether the devices are legal.
series of opinions, determining that the devices were lawful.
Trump took on the issue after the Valentine’s Day high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, as students and guncontrol advocates pressured him and other lawmakers to examine current gun laws.
He announced the order on bump stocks last month after meeting with survivors of the shooting. A bump stock was not used by the Parkland gunman.
“We must do more to protect our children,” Trump said, promising that school safety is a top priority of his administration.