Pro-gun group sues Trump administration over bump stock ban

A pro-gun group has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the ban on bump stocks.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) announced Wednesday that it would challenge the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) over the ban and asked the court for an injunction to block it from moving forward. 

“These dangerous regulations can go much farther than just bump stocks,” Erich Pratt, executive director of GOA said in a statement. “The goal of the anti-gun left is, ultimately, not just banning bump stocks, but, rather, putting ‘points on the board’ toward its goal of banning civilian ownership of all firearms.”

{mosads}The lawsuit was filed in the Western District of Michigan by GOA and other pro-gun groups and individuals.

“Not coincidentally, Michigan is located within the jurisdiction of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals — a circuit which is not only very pro-gun, but also has been more skeptical of illegal government regulatory actions than many other circuits in the country,” Pratt continued.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders deferred comment to the Justice Department. The agency did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it was issuing a final rule that bans bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire much more rapidly.

The rule clarifies the regulatory definition of “machine gun” to include devices similar to bump stocks, subjecting them to the restrictions imposed by existing firearm regulations.

Gun owners with bump stocks have 90 days after the final rule is published in the Federal Register to destroy their devices or turn them in at the nearest ATF office.

President Trump promised action on the issue earlier this year. The device was believed to have been used in the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017 that left 59 people dead.

–Updated at 11:54 a.m.