Opinion: A federal ban on bump stocks will force hundreds of thousands of owners to make some uncomfortable decisions.
If you own a bump stock, you could soon become a felon.
The Justice Department has effectively banned them by reclassifying them as machine guns. Which means anyone who owns one must either destroy or surrender the device before March 26.
And if you don't, congratulations. You're now breaking federal firearms law.
After Las Vegas, where a madman used a bump stock during his shooting spree that killed dozens and injured hundreds, there was a nationwide push to get rid of the things.
President Trump declared that he would ban them without congressional action and directed the Justice Department to figure out how.
Their quick and dirty solution was to reclassify bump stocks as machine guns using an existing law: The National Firearms Act of 1934. That means no new bump stocks can be manufactured.
And all the existing bump stocks – as many as 520,000, according to department estimates – are now illegal for civilians to own.
Doesn't matter if you bought it legally. If you keep it in working order beyond the deadline published in the federal register, you're now a felon.
But the Justice Department now says that was a mistake. It performs verbal gymnastics on words like "automatically" and "trigger pull" to back up its claims that bump stocks really do turn semi-automatic rifles into full-auto ones and that – yes, seriously – the shooter's finger and arm are part of the mechanism that makes this miraculous change.
The department won't pay you for destroying your bump stock, though it estimates the loss of property will cost more than $100 million. It notes that any such appropriation would have to be made by Congress (as if that's going to happen).
But remember: Nothing is grandfathered. Either you comply or potentially face a felony if you're caught with what you purchased legally.
The ATF suggests you surrender your bump stock at one of its offices, so they can destroy it. Or you can do the deed yourself (I'm not kidding: There are detailed directions on its website for making your bump stock inoperable. Heaven forbid you try to destroy the thing and still go to prison for doing it incorrectly).