Sales of bump stocks have resumed in three states after federal authorities let a deadline pass to file a legal challenge against a court ruling that invalidated an administrative ban on the devices, which boost firing speed.
Guns shops in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi can now legally sell bump stocks after the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) failed to file a motion by a Feb. 27 deadline to block a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that in January struck down a federal ban on bump stocks.
The 5th Circuit Court, which handles cases from the three states, ruled on Jan. 6 (pdf) that the ATF short-circuited the legislative process when it issued an administrative decision in 2018 that treated bump stocks under federal law as equivalent to machine guns….