by jshuberg on Sun Dec 23, 2018 3:29 pm
Bump stocks fit the statutory definition of a trigger activator in every aspect, except possibly one - no part of it actually touches the trigger. However, there's a finger stop right next to the trigger guard, and the instructions are to place your finger through the trigger guard as normal, and rest it on the finger stop. In doing this, you have completed the "assembly" of a trigger activating device. If you were to screw a little piece of metal or wood or plastic onto the finger stop that extended into the trigger guard, the stock would now directly activate the trigger without the operator needing to use his finger at all. To rely on the absence of this last piece of linkage, especially when the instructions tell the user to use his finger in this capacity, it's just extremely risky. There's been no test case yet, so no one can say for certain, but even if its ruled at some point not to be a trigger activator, its so close according to the statutory definition that a person is really rolling the dice by owning one.
Is this an anti-gun opinion? Absolutely not! It's simply my honest analysis of the law as it currently exists, without injecting a pro-gun bias into it. Personally I think the trigger activator ban is stupid. I think bump stocks are stupid, I think Gat cranks are stupid, I think binary triggers are stupid, and I think the machine gun ban is stupid. If a law-abiding individual wants to purchase a real machine gun, he should be able to do so without breaking the bank. I think both the state and federal machine gun bans are stupid, and that all of the "make-believe" gadgets that allow a person to simulate full auto fire are stupid. Ideally we should just drop all of this nonsense and allow people to own the real-deal, period. I am not anti-gun, I'm just being a realist here as to existing law as written.
So why did I bring it up in the first place? Well I believe that the lawsuits against ATF are likely to succeed. The federal ban on bump stocks will most likely be struck down. But it's a different situation for those at the state level.
Up until now Lori Swanson has been the Attorney General of MN. She's a Democrat, but she's a pro-gun Democrat. I don't know if the question of bump stocks ever crossed her desk, but it's my understanding that if the question did come up, she would have taken a pro-gun stance on the issue, and not gone after law-abiding gun owners simply because they own bump stocks. This has changed recently though, we now have Keith Ellison as Attorney General. What do you think Keith Ellison's office will do if the federal ban on bump stocks is struck down, given that there's already a trigger activator ban on the books in MN? I can say with absolute certainty that within weeks if not days of the federal ban being struck down, Ellison will be on TV announcing that his office has determined that they're in fact illegal here in MN, and begin prosecuting anyone found with one. And in my humble opinion, given the law as written, I think he's likely to win the test case, settling the question on whether bump stocks are illegal in MN. At which point anyone owning one will be subject to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Ellison in the Attorney Generals office changes a lot of things for us. We used to have a friend in there, where now we have a very determined enemy. Where previously many things in the "grey area" of the law were not prosecuted with regard to guns, at this point I would expect that anything and everything that can be prosecuted with regard to guns will be. Including self defense claims. In recent years we've seen several cases of lawful self defense by a permit holder that was so obviously justified self defense, that they were never charged or prosecuted. Unfortunately, under Ellison those days might be over. I hope I'm wrong, but I would expect that every instance of lawful self defense will be prosecuted, just because they can. I'd also expect that every act of lawlessness by Antifa or leftist organizations or activists will be dropped for procedural reasons or some other nonsense. Ellison chose to move down from US Congressman to MN Attorney General for some reason, and I believe that it's probably in preparation for a future Governors office run, and to weaponize prosecutions against those he considers his political enemies. And he considers gun owners his political enemies.
Getting back to bump stocks, even if/when the federal ban is struck down, those in MN that own them are still likely going to be in significant legal risk.
Just my $0.02
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