Inventor of 'bump stock' spent years fighting for device and lost
Bill Akins
For years   Bill Akins  fought to capitalize on  his  idea - with the U.S. government   his  former business partner and a rival competitor - but found  himself  stymied at every turn.
The 63-year-old Marine veteran and Elvis impersonator voiced  his  sorrow at the tragedy in Las Vegas  where authorities said Stephen Paddock had bump stocks installed on 12 of his rifles. The device allows semi-automatic weapons to fire almost as rapidly as machine guns  which are largely outlawed.
“I would like to express my dismay and sincere condolences to the victims  families and anyone affected by the recent Las Vegas mass shooting ”  Akins  said during a telephone interview from  his  home about 45 minutes north of Tampa  Florida.
But  he  also defended the devices as protected under the U.S. Constitution’s right to bear arms.
“People need to recognize that we either have a constitution  or we don‘t ”  he  said.
 Akins  first came up with  his  idea while watching a documentary about World War Two in 1996 that showed twin anti-aircraft guns firing at Japanese warplanes from a U.S. Navy ship.
 He  saw the barrels sliding back and forth with each concussive recoil and wondered if  he  could design a device that would mimic that action  turning a semi-automatic rifle that fires once per trigger pull into a weapon capable of shooting hundreds of rounds per minute.
The result  which  he  eventually termed the “Akins Accelerator ” seemed promising enough. Akins teamed up with a firearms industry businessman  secured two letters from the Bureau of Alcohol  Tobacco  Firearms and Explosives (ATF) affirming the mechanism behind the device was legal  and poured his savings into the project.
Another company  Slide Fire Solutions  began making its own version of the bump stock that was approved by the ATF  in large part because it lacked a recoil spring that  Akins  had included.
 Akins  transferred  his  patent to an outdoor sporting goods company  FosTecH Outdoors  and the two rival manufacturers engaged in a legal battle over patent infringement before settling the case in 2012.
 Akins  is limited in what  he  can say about the litigation  saying only that  he  is “legally prevented” from discussing certain aspects of the bump stock industry. But  he  made clear  his  ire at the ATF.
“They just destroyed our business ”  he  said.
 Akins  put up  his  own property as collateral for a loan to launch the business.  He  estimated  he  sold several hundred devices  priced at more than $1 000 each  before  he  was shut down - not enough to cover  his  startup costs.
 He  filed two unsuccessful federal lawsuits against the ATF  leaving  him  with a workshop full of unused Akins Accelerators.
“Boy  did I get an education ”  he  said. “I‘m not a person who’d ever done business before with a corporation  never worked in the firearm industry before  just a tinkerer that came up with an idea.”
For years   [TGT]  fought to capitalize on  [TGT]  idea - with the U.S. government   [TGT]  former business partner and a rival competitor - but found  [TGT]  stymied at every turn.
The 63-year-old Marine veteran and Elvis impersonator voiced  his  sorrow at the tragedy in Las Vegas  where authorities said Stephen Paddock had bump stocks installed on 12 of his rifles. The device allows semi-automatic weapons to fire almost as rapidly as machine guns  which are largely outlawed.
“I would like to express my dismay and sincere condolences to the victims  families and anyone affected by the recent Las Vegas mass shooting ”  [TGT]said during a telephone interview from  [TGT]  home about 45 minutes north of Tampa  Florida.
But  he  also defended the devices as protected under the U.S. Constitution’s right to bear arms.
“People need to recognize that we either have a constitution  or we don‘t ”  he  said.
 [TGT]first came up with  [TGT]  idea while watching a documentary about World War Two in 1996 that showed twin anti-aircraft guns firing at Japanese warplanes from a U.S. Navy ship.
 [TGT]  saw the barrels sliding back and forth with each concussive recoil and wondered if  [TGT]  could design a device that would mimic that action  turning a semi-automatic rifle that fires once per trigger pull into a weapon capable of shooting hundreds of rounds per minute.
The result  which  he  eventually termed the “Akins Accelerator ” seemed promising enough. Akins teamed up with a firearms industry businessman  secured two letters from the Bureau of Alcohol  Tobacco  Firearms and Explosives (ATF) affirming the mechanism behind the device was legal  and poured his savings into the project.
Another company  Slide Fire Solutions  began making its own version of the bump stock that was approved by the ATF  in large part because it lacked a recoil spring that  Akins  had included.
 Akins  transferred  his  patent to an outdoor sporting goods company  FosTecH Outdoors  and the two rival manufacturers engaged in a legal battle over patent infringement before settling the case in 2012.
 Akins  is limited in what  he  can say about the litigation  saying only that  he  is “legally prevented” from discussing certain aspects of the bump stock industry. But  he  made clear  his  ire at the ATF.
“They just destroyed our business ”  he  said.
 Akins  put up  his  own property as collateral for a loan to launch the business.  He  estimated  he  sold several hundred devices  priced at more than $1 000 each  before  he  was shut down - not enough to cover  his  startup costs.
 He  filed two unsuccessful federal lawsuits against the ATF  leaving  him  with a workshop full of unused Akins Accelerators.
“Boy  did I get an education ”  he  said. “I‘m not a person who’d ever done business before with a corporation  never worked in the firearm industry before  just a tinkerer that came up with an idea.”