BAN BUMP STOCKS: Submit a Public Comment by June 27

Prevention of Gun Violence & Violence Against Women Working Group C2A

THE ISSUE

The mass shooting in Las Vegas last year was made far more deadly because the shooter used “bump fire stocks,” accessories that effectively modify semi-automatic weapons to fire at similar rates to automatic weapons. These devices are intended to circumvent restrictions on fully automatic firearms in the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the National Firearms Act of 1934. After the shooting, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) proposed a bill that would ban bump stocks, but the measure stalled. Aiming to avoid a politically damaging vote in an election year, Republicans and even the NRA called for the ATF to propose a rule change instead. Because prior ATF reviews determined that such a ban would have to come from Congress, it’s likely that such a rule change would still need need to be followed by legislation. The public comment period for the rule change is closes on June 27!

THE ACTION

Add a comment before June 27 to the ATF website supporting a proposed rule change banning bump stocks: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=ATF-2018-0002-0001

SAMPLE LANGUAGE

(use this as a guide only, public comments that are cut and pasted are sometimes rejected):

I urge ATF to finalize its proposed rule clarifying that bump fire stocks, along with other “conversion devices” that enable semiautomatic weapons to mimic automatic fire, qualify as “machineguns” under the National Firearms Act and are generally illegal to possess. On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into the 22,000 person crowd at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500. The gunman fired more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition in 11 minutes, using semi-automatic rifles modified with dangerous firearm accessories designed to dramatically accelerate the rate of gunfire, commonly known as “bump fire stocks.” These devices are intended to circumvent the restrictions on possession of fully automatic firearms in the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the National Firearms Act of 1934 by allowing an individual to modify a semi automatic rifle in such a manner that it operates with a similar rate of fire as a fully automatic rifle. The continued presence of these dangerous devices puts all of our communities at risk and both Congress and ATF must take action quickly to address this threat.