WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) —U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced March 23 that the Department of Justice has proposed amending the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, to state that bump stocks “machine guns” under federal law.
“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 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 pointed to the 2017 tragedy in Las Vegas, when a gunman used bump stocks to speed up his firing process.
“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. “I look forward to working with the President’s School Safety Commission to identify other ways to keep our country and our children safe, and I thank the president for his courageous leadership on this issue.”