Bump stocks aren’t a machine gun part that can be regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the Gun Control Act, the Sixth Circuit said Tuesday.
In reaching its conclusion, the opinion by Judge Ronald Lee Gilman applied the rule of lenity, a criminal law doctrine that construes ambiguous statutes in favor of the defendant.
When placed on a semiautomatic rifle, a bump stock makes the weapon function as a machine gun. Possession of a machine gun is generally illegal today.
But the ATF didn’t adopt a rule treating bump stocks as a machine gun part ...
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