Approach KSTP Bump Stock “Memo” With Caution
December 18, 2018Update 12/19/2018: The ATF has finalized the ban on bump stocks. Thus, confirming the legitimacy of this memo.
KSTP 5, a Minneapolis-St. Paul area ABC affiliate, has reported for the last two weeks that the ATF readied preparations for a categorical ban on bump stocks as early as late-November. This report came after the KSTP newsroom received a scan of a memo, allegedly from the Department of Justice and distributed to gun shops and law enforcement, stating that “[as] a result of the recent rule in the Federal Register classifying bump-stock-type devices as machineguns, these devices now fall within the purview of the National Firearms Act.” A portion of the memo, as obtained by The Zelman Partisans, a Jewish firearms owners’ blog, is shown below.
As you can see, the document looks rather official. It sports the standard DOJ letterhead with the issuing officer’s title, but no name. This is standard practice as the officer usually signs the final page of letters like this. Unlike many other ATF letters I have personally seen, the date is typed rather than stamped, but I’m not sure that amounts to enough of a departure to call this a forgery.
Determining the authenticity of the memo is obviously important. It not only outlines, or appears to detail, bump stock disposal processes. It also indicates that owners of bump stocks are not only presently in violation of the Gun Control Act, but that the stocks were never “lawfully possessed or registered prior to the effective date of the ‘post-1986’ machinegun statute.” That’s an odd way to describe the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act in an official document, but the language is clear – bump stocks apparently have never been legal, despite numerous ATF letters to the contrary.
With it looking like a legitimate letter, why am I stressing readers treat it with caution? For starters, this is the first the memo has been seen since its apparent issuance. If, as KSTP reports, the November 28 document was distributed to law enforcement and federal firearms licensees (FFLs), it’s improbable-to-impossible that we would only now be reading it.
Second, a final rule has yet to be posted to the Federal Register. For the ATF to move forward with reclassification, the rule’s final text must be posted. Premature enforcement of such a change would be unlawful. I’m not naïve; the ATF could simply ignore the law, but that would be unnecessarily sloppy.
Lastly, KSTP has only shared the first page. This isn’t to suggest that the news organization is in on some sort of hoax. We simply can’t properly vet the piece without seeing who exactly drafted it.
I think it is still probably that we see a ban on bump stocks, including those currently owned, by the end of the year. But until a final rule is posted to the Federal Register, it’s best to treat these recent developments with some skepticism.
An information security professional by day and gun blogger by night, Nathan started his firearms journey at 16 years old as a collector of C&R rifles. These days, you’re likely to find him shooting something a bit more modern – and usually equipped with a suppressor – but his passion for firearms with military heritage has never waned. Over the last five years, Nathan has written about a variety of firearms topics, including Second Amendment politics and gun and gear reviews. When he isn’t shooting or writing, Nathan nerds out over computers, 3D printing, and Star Wars.