WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-01) released a statement following Supreme Court oral arguments for Garland v. Cargill. This case will determine if bump stock devices can once again be legally owned by civilians following a regulatory ban that has been in effect since 2019. 

“To this day, the Route 91 massacre in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, remains the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history,” said Rep. Dina Titus, member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “The level of carnage was caused by bump stock devices. After this shooting, in response to public outcry, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives rightfully took action by clarifying that bump stocks are classified as machine guns under federal law. If the Supreme Court sides with the challenge to the ATF rule, we could see these destructive devices returned to our streets. I will never stop fighting to keep bump stocks out of our communities. Given our conservative Court, I urge Congress to pass my Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act to legislatively treat them as machine guns and ban them.”

Background:
After a lone gunman used bump stocks attached to semi-automatic firearms to claim 58 innocent lives and injure hundreds, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued a rule clarifying that bump stocks are classified as machine guns and therefore subject to strict regulation under the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1986. This rule made it illegal for civilians to possess bump stocks, supplemental devices for assault rifles which increase the rate of fire to 400 to 800 rounds per minute. 

Following the ATF ruling, several gun advocate groups challenged the rule, leading to a split among federal appeals courts as to whether the regulation is lawful. On November 3, 2023, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case to determine the constitutionality of the bump stock ban and whether a bump stock device can be classified as a “machine gun.” A decision is expected later this year to determine if the ATF has the authority to issue a regulation or if it must be done legislatively. 

Immediately following the 2017 shooting, Congresswoman Dina Titus introduced the Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act to codify a bump stock ban into law, making it generally illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess these devices for civilian use. The legislation includes exceptions for law enforcement agencies to possess and transfer bump stocks. As the epidemic of mass shootings has increased each year, Rep. Titus has spearheaded efforts to keep these devices off our streets by continuously re-introducing the legislation. 

Most recently, Rep. Dina Titus was joined by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-08) to introduce the Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act amid the legal effort to overturn the current regulatory ban on these dangerous devices which is being debated in the Supreme Court. 

This legislation is supported by Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, and the Newtown Action Alliance. It currently has 131 cosponsors in the U.S. House. The Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 as part of the Protecting Our Kids Act. The full text of Rep. Titus’s bill can be found HERE.