Dianne Feinstein Statement on Bump Stock Ban
In absurd reaction to ludicrous regulation, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein issued the following statement regarding the administration’s new ban which declares the accessory to be a “machine gun.”
For readers not familiar with bump stocks, the device is a firearm accessory – a shoulder stock that is loose fitting enough to allow a rifle equipped with one about half an inch of front-to-rear play. When used as intended, the user pulls forward on the firearm (while the stock stays rearward) – pulling the trigger into the shooter’s finger causing it to fire. The recoil impulse of the round going off causes the rifle to move rearward, resetting the trigger. Subsequent, or continued, forward pulls on the firearm repeat the process, allowing for rapid fire as the trigger is quickly pulled multiple times, once for each shot, in fast semi-auto fire. Oh, the humanity… pulling the trigger quickly!
Below is Senator Feinstein’s hand-wringing statement:
“Bump stocks allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like automatic weapons, making guns like the AR-15 even more deadly. Banning bump stocks has widespread support and it’s encouraging to see the Trump administration take action on this commonsense gun safety proposal.
“However, Congress must pass legislation to ensure a ban on bump stocks and other similar devices is protected from legal challenges.
“Until March 2018, ATF maintained that bump stocks could not be banned through administrative action. Legislation is necessary to ensure a ban is implemented and regulations are not tied up in court.
“Gun Owners of America has already announced its intent to sue to block the ban from taking effect. Congress simply must act to get these dangerous devices off the streets, and I will be reintroducing my bill to ban them early next year.”
Faux Automatic: Rapid Fire Without a Machine Gun
Before heading to SHOT Show this year, I consulted with a few other female shooters that I know to ask what they were hoping to see new this year. In general, I was surprised to find that they were actually in the same KISS school of thought that I am: something that works well, works consistently, and is not difficult to understand how it works. One thing that did surprise me was more interest in fully automatic firearms than I had expected. I have been fortunate in that I have had the opportunity, on more than one occasion, to shoot automatic weapons. If you have not experienced full-auto mag dumps yourself, to be completely honest, it is even more fun than it looks.
Fully-automatic weapons, or machine guns, are regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The law basically says that the only legal machine guns for civilians are the ones that were lawfully possessed prior to May 19, 1986 and those require payment of a $200 transfer tax, lengthy approval process, and federal registration in the NFRTR. This makes for a very limited supply of weapons that are in circulation, which – as we learned about supply and demand in Economics 101 – drives the price sky high – often into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unless you either join the military or have some pretty cool friends, you may not get the opportunity to shoot a machine gun.
However, a shooter and their ammo (ergo, their money) are easily parted and the firearms industry has come up with some innovative ways to turn a pocket full of money into a hot, smoking pile of spent brass. Thanks to that innovation, there are some legal ways to simulate full-auto firing power. Continue reading
