Michigan Senator proposes nationwide ban on bump stocks
Lansing — A Michigan senator is introducing a proposal to ban bump stocks in the state, less than two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law banning the accessory that gives semi-automatic rifles a faster rate of fire.
On June 14, the nation’s Supreme Court ruled that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its authority by announcing a decision in 2018 – when Republican Donald Trump was president – that bump stocks fell under the legal definition of machine guns.
Because the court ruling focused on whether federal law was properly interpreted by a federal agency, rather than the right to bear arms, Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) said Michigan lawmakers retain the authority to ban bump stocks. According to the Associated Press, 15 states and the District of Columbia have already passed their own bump stock bans.
“I don’t want to make it easy for people to mow down Michiganders with a gun attachment,” Polehanki said Tuesday. “It’s a matter of public safety.”
Bump stocks are designed to make the bump firing technique easier to perform by using the recoil force of the weapon to quickly move the trigger.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the Supreme Court opinion that a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a bump stock is not a machine gun because it cannot fire more than one shot “by a single pull of the trigger.”
Previous federal policy on bump stocks was prompted by an October 1, 2017, shooting in Las Vegas in which a gunman used semi-automatic rifles with bump stock devices and fired a barrage of shots that killed 58 people and injured more than 850 others among the 22,000 concertgoers at an outdoor music festival. The gunman was able to fire more than 1,000 bullets in 11 minutes.
Polehanki’s bill would ban the manufacture, sale and possession of bump stocks in Michigan, she said.
If passed, the proposal would be the latest attempt by Michigan’s Democratic-controlled legislature to combat gun violence and impose restrictions related to firearms. Last year, Democrats expanded background check requirements after a mass shooting on the Michigan State University campus and introduced gun storage standards in homes where children are present.
More: Michigan Republican bill to make AR-15 the state’s official rifle
On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Jim DeSana of Carleton said he would not support Polehanki’s new bill.
“I firmly believe that the constitutionally protected right of the people to keep and bear arms and the right of self-defense are absolute and cannot be limited, impaired or regulated to such an extent that a law-abiding citizen would violate the law simply by possessing certain types of weapons,” DeSana said.
Senate Democratic leadership has decided to refer Polehankis’ bill to the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety, her office said in a statement.
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