If ‘Bump Stock’ Was the Problem in Las Vegas, Why Did Barack Obama Approve It?

Democrats are pushing for a ban on the “bump stock,” a device that allows a single-shot rifle to mimic the action of an automatic rifle.

The killer who carried out the mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas on Sunday evening reportedly had several bump stocks in his arsenal on the 32nd floor, and likely used them to fire on the tens of thousands in the crowd below, using guns he had apparently purchased legally after passing background checks.

As Breitbart News’ AWR Hawkins has explained, the “bump stock” is basically a “novelty” that allows ordinary people to experience the feeling of firing an automatic weapon. It does not make a rifle more accurate — but, when fired at a crowd, where any shot is likely to hit someone, does make it more deadly.

And yet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) approved the “bump stock” because it is not a modification of the gun.

The ATF made its determination in June 2010 — in the heyday of the Obama administration. In the history of the U.S., there has probably been no more anti-gun president than Barack Obama. And in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting of December 2012, and the failure of gun control legislation in Congress, Obama took matters into his own hands and issued dozens of ambitious “executive actions” designed to restrict access to guns.

Somehow, Obama did not address the “bump stock” issue — not in the 23 executive actions he took in 2013, and not in the follow-up executive actions he took in 2016. Instead, he obsessed over “smart gun” technology and tightened background checks.

One can attribute that to mere oversight, but Obama’s failure to ban the bump stock is a reminder that people with evil intentions will often, sadly, be one step ahead of the law.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.