The Department of Justice will change regulations to categorize bump stocks as "machine guns" under federal law — effectively banning them. This announcement comes the day ahead of the nationwide March for Our Lives rally.

Trump tweeted ahead of the DOJ's release: "Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period. We will BAN all devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns." </s> Justice Department moves to officially ban bump stocks, classifies them as ‘machine guns’

The Department of Justice on Saturday submitted regulation to formally ban the devices, which modify semi-automatic rifles to fire like a fully-automatic rifle. The devices were used in the Las Vegas massacre last October, which left nearly five dozen dead and more than 800 others injured.

The DOJ announced Saturday it had submitted its proposed regulation to the Office of Management and Budget, which must approve the regulation before it is enforced, according to Reuters.

The proposed regulation defines bump stocks as “machine guns” and seeks to have them outlawed under the National Firearms Act and Gun Control Act. If the regulation is approved, bump stocks will be illegal to buy, sell, possess and manufacture.

The regulation does not need congressional approval and was expected after President Donald Trump directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ban the devices last month.

However, it reverses a 2010 decision by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that found bump stocks did not fall under the National Firearm Act’s definition of a “machine gun” and therefore could only be regulated if Congress amended the NFAGCA’s definition of “machine gun.”. – READ MORE </s> The Trump administration is banning bump stocks, the firearm attachment that allows a semiautomatic weapon to shoot almost as fast as a machine gun.

The devices, also known as slide fires, came under intense scrutiny after they were used by the gunman who opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas last year, killing 58 people.

The massacre touched off a public outcry, including from some lawmakers, for the accessories to be banned.

Under a new federal rule announced Tuesday by the Justice Department, bump stocks will be redefined as "machine guns" and therefore outlawed under existing law.

The new regulations, which were signed by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, will take effect 90 days after being published in the Federal Register. A Justice Department official said that would likely happen Friday.

Current bump stock owners will have the 90 days before the new rule takes effect to either destroy the devices they own or turn them in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The new regulations could face legal challenges from the National Rifle Association, bump stock owners or manufacturers. A Justice Department official said the department is confident in its analysis and is prepared to defend the new rule in court if needed.

Justice Department officials say they don't know exactly how many bump stocks are privately owned, but they estimate the number in the tens of thousands.

Trump ordered the Justice Department to ban the devices in March. The department followed up by proposing a federal rule change that would reclassify bump stocks so they fell under the definition of a "machine gun," as it's now doing.

Fully automatic machine guns are strictly controlled in the U.S. It is illegal under federal law for a private citizen to own a machine gun that was manufactured after 1986. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice formally submitted a regulation on Saturday to ban “bump stocks,” a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon. </s> Trump ordered the Justice Department to work toward a ban after the Parkland shooting

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump says his administration will “BAN” bump stock devices that “turn legal weapons into illegal machines.”

The Justice Department announced Friday that it has started the process to amend federal firearms regulations to clarify that federal law defines bump stocks as machine guns.

Trump had ordered Justice to work toward a ban after the Florida high school shooting. Bump stocks enable guns to fire like automatic weapons, and were used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre.

Trump tweeted Friday: “Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period.”

The government determined in 2010 that bump stocks couldn’t be regulated unless Congress changed the law. </s> The US Justice Department moved Saturday to redefine machineguns to include "bump stocks," a regulatory tweak that would ban devices used to boost the rate of fire of semi-automatic weapons.

The proposed change must undergo a review but if approved would outlaw the possession, sale or manufacture of bump stocks under the National Firearms Act and Gun Control Act.

The devices were used to devastating effect by the gunman who rained fire on concert-goers in Las Vegas October 1, killing 58 people and injuring more than 850.

After the February 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people, President Donald Trump called for a ban on bump stocks even though the semi-automatic rifle used in that case was not fitted with the device.

The outrage over the Florida shooting, however, has raised public pressure for broad action on the availability of semi-automatic weapons.

Students who survived the attack are organizing a massive march on Washington in two weeks to demand stricter curbs on guns.

The president "is absolutely committed to ensuring the safety and security of every American and he has directed us to propose a regulation addressing bump stocks," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

"To that end, the Department of Justice has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a notice of a proposed regulation to clarify that the National Firearms and Gun Control Act defines 'machinegun' to include bump stock type devices." </s> • The Department of Justice on Friday announced a proposal to ban bump stocks – the devices used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre.
• Bump stocks are devices that can be installed onto semiautomatic rifles, accelerating the gunfire.
• President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed the Obama administration for a 2010 ruling that found that bump stocks weren’t technically “machineguns” and therefore couldn’t be banned.

The Trump administration announced a new proposal on Friday to effectively ban bump stock devices, which were used to accelerate the gunfire of the Las Vegas mass shooter last year.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that the Justice Department intends to amend a regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to ensure that bump stocks fall under the definition of a “machinegun” under federal law, thereby banning the devices.

“After the senseless attack in Las Vegas, this proposed rule is a critical step in our effort to reduce the threat of gun violence that is in keeping with the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress,” Sessions said in a statement.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the decision on Twitter, blaming the Obama administration’s ATF for ruling in 2010 that bump stocks didn’t fall under the “machinegun” definition.

“Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon. “We will BAN all devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns.”

The Justice Department’s statement on Friday also indicated that if the proposal is adopted, people who currently own bump stocks would have to give them up or destroy them.

“If the [notice of proposed rulemaking] is made final, bump-stock-type devices would be effectively banned under federal law and current possessors of bump-stock-type devices would be required to surrender, destroy, or otherwise render the devices permanently inoperable,” the statement said.

A bump stock is a device meant to be installed onto a semiautomatic firearm, such as AR-15, AK-47, and Saiga models, replacing the rifle’s standard stock.

Unlike automatic firearms, which fire continuously while the trigger is pulled, semiautomatic weapons fire one round per trigger pull. But the bump stock harnesses the recoil energy produced when a shot is fired from a semiautomatic rifle to “bump” the weapon back and forth between the shooter’s shoulder and trigger finger.

Since the shooter is still pulling the trigger for each shot, federal officials previously argued that the firearm technically remains semiautomatic, even as it achieves a rate of fire similar to that of an automatic one.

It’s unclear how the Justice Department is justifying the regulation change, as firearms outfitted with bump stocks still require multiple trigger pulls. But Sessions’ statement on Friday said that bump stocks “allow a shooter of a semiautomatic firearm to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger.”

The Trump administration has been reviewing the legality of bump stocks since December 2017.

Shortly after a mass shooting at a Florida high school on February 14 this year, Trump issued a memorandum directing the Justice Department to craft a rule that would ban the devices. </s> WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday issued a new rule banning bump stocks, the attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire in sustained, rapid bursts and that a gunman used to massacre 58 people and wound hundreds of others at a Las Vegas concert in October 2017.

The new regulation, which had been expected, would ban the sale or possession of the devices under a new interpretation of existing law. Americans who own bump stocks would have 90 days to destroy their devices or to turn them in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Justice Department said A.T.F. would post destruction instructions on its website.

Bump stocks work by harnessing a firearm’s recoil energy to slide it back and forth to bump against a squeezed trigger, so that it keeps firing without any need for the shooter to pull the trigger again. The Justice Department said that this function transforms semiautomatic weapons, like assault rifles styled on the AR-15, into fully automatic machine guns, which Congress sharply restricted in 1986 — allowing the ban. </s> President Donald Trump announced Friday that the administration would ban bump stocks and “all devices” that turn otherwise legal weapons into “illegal machine guns,” keeping a promise made amid a bipartisan gun control debate.

Moments before he departed Joint Base Andrews for his Florida property at Mar-a-Lago, and hours after signing a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, the president tweeted about the new policy.

“Obama Administration legalized bump stocks. BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period. We will BAN all devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns,” he wrote on Friday.

A bump stock is an attachment that allows a semi-automatic rifle to achieve a fully automatic weapon’s “cyclic firing rate to mimic nearly continuous automatic fire,” according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Semi-automatic rifles with bump stocks can fire hundreds of rounds per minute, according to experts.

The bump stock moved to the foreground in the national discussion of gun control last fall, after Stephen Paddock used the attachment when he opened fire at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas. He killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

The president, for months, has urged the Justice Department to ban firearm modifiers, directing Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month to implement new federal guidelines “very soon.”

On Friday, Sessions announced that bump stocks fall within the definition of “machine gun” under federal law, as the devices allow a semiautomatic firearms to achieve a continuous firing cycle with the single pull of the trigger.

WHAT ARE BUMP STOCKS? HOW THEY WORK AND WHY TRUMP WANTS THEM BANNED

“Since the day he took office, President Trump has had no higher priority than the safety of each and every American,” Sessions said in a statement. “That is why today the Department of Justice is publishing for public comment a proposed rulemaking that would define ‘machine gun’ to include bump stock-type devices under federal law – effectively banning them.”

Sessions cited the “senseless” Las Vegas attack, noting that the rule is a “critical step” in the effort to reduce the threat of gun violence.

The White House released a memo last month that directed the Justice Department to propose the rule.

Trump wrote in the memo, “Although the Obama administration repeatedly concluded that particular bump stock type devices were lawful to purchase and possess, I sought further clarification of the law restricting fully automatic machine guns.”

The ATF made bump stocks legal in 2010, when, at the time, the bureau concluded that bump stocks didn’t convert a semi-automatic firearm into one that is fully automatic, meaning it was not equivalent to machine guns that are regulated under the National Firearms Act, which dates back to the 1930s.

Since the shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school last month, the president has proposed numerous measures in the gun control debate, including banning bump stocks, arming and training teachers and school officials, and raising the age requirement to purchase a gun from 18 to 21.

The president, though, has touched off tensions with the National Rifle Association, which endorsed him during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump has said, repeatedly, that he and the NRA “don’t have to agree on everything.”
The US Department of Justice announces it will reclassify bump stocks as machine guns, effectively outlawing them.