On October 13 Gun Owners of America (GOA) sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) urging him to remember that a bump stock ban will lead to magazine bans.
Moreover, GOA stressed that this is the case whether the ban comes via legislation or regulation.
The letter was accompanied by a press release which GOA sent to Breitbart News. GOA notes that Ryan is pushing for ATF action on bump stocks.
GOA executive director Eric Pratt said: “There is no way that Congress — or the Trump administration — will be able to ban or regulate bump stocks without also opening the door to prohibitions on other parts, accessories and magazines. This is because all of the legislative proposals currently on the table would ban ANY item or device that helps ‘accelerate the rate of fire’ of a semi-automatic firearm.”
Pratt is 100% spot on. On October 9 Breitbart News reported the gun control put forward by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) already goes beyond bump stocks to ban “trigger cranks” and any “accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun.” A jump to magazines is a no brainer.
A similar bill in the House of Representatives is being sponsored by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and currently has nine co-sponsors.
In the other words, the danger is two-pronged: it is coming in the form of legislation and in the form of ATF regulation supported by Speaker Ryan.
Pratt observed, “The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the federal government from imposing ANY infringements upon our gun rights. If the Trump administration starts supporting infringements — even if they are so-called minor ones — it will weaken their ability and resolve to oppose the next set of infringements that come down the pike.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.