GUNS/HOUSE OF REPS: “House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) said the nation’s chief firearm regulator should reconsider its earlier decisions allowing the sale of bump stocks, a device used in last week’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, arguing a regulatory fix would be preferable to new legislation.
Lawmakers from both parties have backed legislation that would ban bump stocks, a device that can enable a semiautomatic rifle to mimic a fully automatic weapon, but Mr. Ryan said Wednesday [10-11-17] that the better route would be for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to re-evaluate its interpretation of federal regulations around their use…
The agency has defended its past decisions on the devices, which have determined bump stocks can be sold to civilians because, when attached to semiautomatic rifles, the resulting weapon doesn’t meet the legal definition of a machine gun. Semiautomatic firearms shoot one bullet for each trigger pull, while automatic weapons fire bullets continuously with one pull of the trigger. Federal law bars civilians from owning an automatic weapon made after 1986…
Republicans in both chambers have asked ATF to re-evaluate regulations around bump stocks. The National Rifle Association has also called for ATF to examine how it regulates bump stocks and said they ‘should be subject to additional regulations.’ “
-Fkristina Peterson and Aruna Viswanatha, “Paul Ryan Says Rule Fix on Bump Stocks Preferable to New Gun Legislation,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 11, 2017 04:44pm