LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general encouraging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a federal rule banning bump stocks. 

What are bump stocks?

According to Nessel, “Bump stock devices can transform a semi-automatic weapon into an automatic, military-grade weapon in every relevant sense,” said AG Nessel. “Skirting federal directives related to bump stocks puts public safety and law enforcement at risk. I wholeheartedly stand with my colleagues in asking the Supreme Court to uphold the validity of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ 2018 Final Rule.”

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After the mass murder of American civilians in Las Vegas in 2017, in which the shooter used rifles with bump stocks, the Trump Administration issued a regulation extending the ban on machine guns to also encompass bump stocks. 

In 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the decision ruling that the law banning machine guns did not unambiguously encompass bump stocks. One of the judges, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote the following opinion: 

“A plain reading of the statutory language, paired with close consideration of the mechanics of a semi-automatic firearm, reveals that a bump stock is excluded from the technical definition of ‘machinegun’ set forth in the Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act.” 

What’s the difference between a semiautomatic gun with a bump stock and a machine gun?

Kevin Michalowski, executive editor of Concealed Carry Magazine, a U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and National Rifle Association (NRA) certified trainer helped break down the ruling by explaining the difference between a semiautomatic gun with a bump stock and a machine gun. 

“A bump stock is an attachment to a semi-automatic rifle that uses some of the force of the recoil to move the rifle internally, allowing you to shoot more quickly but still one pull of the trigger each round,” said Michalowski in a video. “So a machine gun, as defined by the ATF and as defined by the laws, is any gun which can fire more than one bullet with a single pull of the trigger.”

Michalowski further explained the mechanics of the bump stock and how it is still a semiautomatic weapon. 

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“The bump stock actually allows you to release the trigger and pull it again, very quickly, by releasing the pressure on the gun by moving the gun in effect back and forth in the stock,” he added. “So yes, it allows for some really really rapid semi-automatic fire, it is not a machine gun under the definitions provided in those original laws.”

What other gun control measures does Nessel support?

In addition to bump stocks, AG Nessel has supported a myriad of other gun legislation. Those include: safe storage rules, more background checks for gun purchases, red flag laws, and restrictions on those convicted of misdemeanors involving domestic abuse from owning a firearm for eight years. These new laws will take effect on Feb. 13, 2024 in Michigan. 

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb led the amicus brief. It included Nessel along with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

A full copy of the cosigned brief can be found here.