ATF's Ability to Regulate "Bump Stocks" (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised April 11, 2018 |
| Report Number |
LSB10103 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Sarah Herman Peck |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
UPDATE: Following the publication of this Sidebar, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) published a notice of proposed rulemaking declaring its
intention to clarify, through regulation, that “‘bump fire’ stocks, slide-fire devices, and devices with
certain similar characteristics (bump-stock-type devices) are ‘machineguns’” under the National
Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA). In doing so, ATF proposes to interpret three terms
in the GCA and the NFA: (1) “single function of the trigger”; (2) “automatically”; and (3)
“machinegun.” Single function of the trigger will be defined as “single pull of the trigger.” Automatically
will mean “as the result of a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that allows the firing of multiple
rounds through a single pull of the trigger.” And machinegun will include “a device that allows
semiautomatic firearms to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the
recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues
firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter (commonly known as bumpstock-type
devices).” The public comment period closes June 27, 2018.
