June 18, 2024

Manchin Joins Bipartisan Legislation To Ban Bump Stock Devices

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) joined his bipartisan colleagues in cosponsoring the Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act. This legislation would prohibit the sale of bump stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic firearms to increase their rate of fire, effectively enabling them to operate as fully automatic weapons.

“Bump stocks are designed to change semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic, far deadlier weapons. I strongly supported President Trump’s 2018 decision to ban these devices after a gunman used one to massacre dozens of our fellow Americans in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. This was a bipartisan, commonsense accomplishment that has made us safer for the past six years and the Supreme Court’s reversal of it compels Congress to pass legislation banning bump stocks and the mass casualty violence they enable,” said Senator Manchin. “We can and should enact sensible policies that keep our schools, churches and public spaces safe from gun violence without infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans, and our bipartisan BUMP Act does just that.”

A bump stock is an attachment that replaces a semi-automatic weapon's standard stock, the part of the long weapon that rests on the shoulder. The device harnesses the recoil energy so that the trigger will "bump" against the stationary finger, which then allows another round to be fired. The effect is more rapid shots than with a standard stock and essentially operates as a fully automatic weapon. Under the Trump Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives banned bump stocks in 2018 after a gunman used one in the Las Vegas concert massacre, the deadliest shooting in American history. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that bump stocks do not create an automatic weapon under existing law, necessitating action from Congress to ban these devices.

Senator Manchin joined Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Susan Collins (R-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Angus King (I-ME), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tom Carper (D-DE), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Brian Schatz (D-HI). 

The full text of the legislation is available here.