Bumpstocks: the beginning of the end?
On October 1, 2017, the bustling Las Vegas Strip was filled with music from the Route 91 Harvest music festival. With the festival in full swing on the final day, concert goers indulged in the music of various performing artists. Jason Aldean began the closing performance of the festival, but was cut short by a lone gunman. The gunman took position from a hotel room looking out on the performance with his 24 firearms and began firing his weapon on the innocent people below. The bullets rained down on the victims, claiming the lives of 58 people and injuring hundreds more. The shooting is the most deadly in history and was perpetrated by one monster. After further investigation, the gunman’s arsenal of AR-15 rifles were found fitted with bump fire stocks. With these bump fire stocks, a semi-automatic weapon can fire 400 to 800 rounds per minute. These $100 attachments can transform an already dangerous firearm into a killing machine. Bump fire stocks now face their demise after President Trump has proposed a ban on these mods that have claimed the lives of many people.
Bump fire stocks were introduced in 2001 and could be bought through various sites and firearms shops. The United States government has never passed any legislation that regulates bump stocks. The bump stock does not modify or manipulate any of the mechanical functions inside a gun. Instead, the stock is simply installed on the rear of the rifle. The stock harnesses the recoil and “bumps” the rifle back and forth between the shooter’s finger and the trigger. The person, technically, presses the trigger for every round fired which is why a semi-automatic rifle with a bump stock is still considered to be semi-automatic.
The “semi-automatic” rifle fires at rates comparable to automatic rifles, but remains classified as a semi-automatic firearm, and have made many lawmakers and citizens very unhappy. Automatic weapons have been banned since 1986, but any guns sold before that year are legal. Bump fire stocks and other loopholes have given gun owners new ways to increase the fire rate of their rifles. California Senator Dianne Feinstein said, “The only reason to modify a gun is to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible.” As seen in the Las Vegas massacre, bump stock mods enabled the lone gunman to do just that. John Sullivan, lead engineer of Defense Distributed, a gun access group, admitted, “converting a semi-automatic to fully automatic is very, very easy. At the end of the day, machine guns are easy to make.” While gun control has been notoriously portrayed as a partisan debate, bump stocks have been condemned by both Democrats and Republicans.
A few days after the Parkland school shooting, President Donald Trump proposed to Attorney General Jeff Session a ban on bump fire stocks. GOP lawmakers have held a pro-gun stance for many years, but they have hinted at possible legislation that may regulate the sale of bump fire stocks. After Sandy Hook in 2013, legislation banning bump stocks was proposed by Senator Feinstein. However, the bill received no votes. The fate of bump stocks is still unknown, but a proposal by the a Republican president may provide momentum for future legislation.
The NRA and the White House have expressed concern over the deadliness and dangerousness of bump fire stocks, but the public will not be satisfied with a ban on bump stocks only. The Parkland school shooting did not involve bump stocks, so questions arise about the timing and impact of banning bump stocks. Is this ban happening so lawmakers can please the victims and gun control activists? The Las Vegas massacre happened four months ago, but the bump stock ban was brought up just a few days before. Why now?
Many people are calling for a ban on assault rifles in general, specifically the AR-15. The Las Vegas massacre and Parkland school shooting both involved AR-15 rifles. The Sandy Hook shooter used a Bushmaster XM15-E2S, an assault rifle very similar to the AR-15. These weapons have acted as tools of death in the hands of deranged human beings for many years. The ban on bump stocks may be a step towards new rifle restrictions and regulations. If the bump stocks are banned, what will be next? More importantly, will a bump stock ban or any rifle ban ensure the safety of America’s children?
