Deadline for submitting comments is January 25, 2018. I guess they're trying to save the Hawaii legislature the trouble of passing a statewide ban by making "other similar devices" "machineguns" and thus NFA, and thus banned in Hawaii. Since "other similar devices" would include rubber bands and string and sticks and rigid bent fingers and belt loops, etc. I have to wonder if my comments would be disgarded since no profanity is allowed... I'm wondering if the word "idiots" is considered profanity by BATFE? They must have heard it before.

The (paranoid? or duly warranted?) speculation is that since they can't possibly list every possible kind of "Other Similar Devices" that they will have to depend on some definition involving "rate of fire"... which in the end (slippery slope and all) means that semi-autos in general could end up being banned because they have the capability of achieving a "rate of fire" that would be deemed "machinegun like". Or something. Please take a few minutes to send them a (profanity-less) comment.

You can read the entire preliminary proposal here, and also submit your comments there.

Application of the Definition of Machinegun to “Bump Fire” Stocks and Other Similar Devices

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/26/2017-27898/application-of-the-definition-of-machinegun-to-bump-fire-stocks-and-other-similar-devices#open-comment

And while you're thinking of submitting comments, maybe you can send one to the NRA too and thank them. Oh, and don't forget to send them more money.

https://home.nra.org/joint-statement

“The National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law. The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”

And while you're thinking of submitting comments, maybe you can send one to the NRA too and thank them. Oh, and don't forget to send them more money.

https://home.nra.org/joint-statement

“The National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law. The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.”

I don't see the problem.  ATF already reviewed bumpstocks, and CURRENT rules prevented them from restricting "accessories." 

Asking for the ATF to revisit the issue is less risky than what the public is clamoring for.  It would be less problematic for the ATF to find an existing rule to control bumpstocks under the NFA -- just like machine guns -- than to have Congress make a whole new law for every item people find inappropriate for the general public to own or use.  Once Congress, that great hall of gun misinformation,  starts doing the ATF's job in that area, look out!!   

Don't worry, HPD will define it for you.

Rubber bands will soon require a permit to purchase.

Well, the deadline for comments was January 25. Thanks to all here who submitted comments. As much as I hate to mention and send people to Bloomberg's virulently anti-gun-rights lying "The Trace" website, they are the first I've seen to do an analysis of the comments submitted:

https://www.thetrace.org/rounds/atf-bump-stock-regulation-comments-analysis/

The ATF Received 36,000 Comments on Bump Stocks. They’re Overwhelmingly Anti-Regulation.

Excerpts:

In the week following the Las Vegas massacre on October 1, polls showed that nearly 75 percent of registered voters in gun-owning households supported a ban on bump stocks. Yet despite the public sentiment, an analysis by The Trace of comments submitted in response to a government proposal to regulate bump stocks shows that 85 percent of commenters opposed the measure.



The majority of comments — 72 percent, or about 23,000 — were unique responses written by individuals. To estimate the stances of these opinions, The Trace pulled a random sample of 1,000 submissions and labeled them as being for or against the regulation of bump stocks. Of the comments included in the sample, roughly 89 percent were written in opposition to the regulation, and 9 percent in support. The composition of the sample enabled us to extrapolate the makeup of all 23,000 pro- and anti-regulation unique comments: 64 percent against, and 6 percent in favor.

An additional round of analysis of our sample group revealed certain characteristics among unique commenters. For example, commenters who opposed the regulation were more verbose, writing messages that were on average 45 percent longer than those supporting the regulation of bump stocks.

Anti-regulation commenters were also more likely to mention the technical aspects of a gun, the ATF’s rule-making process, and the Constitution, while those favoring the regulation were much more likely to mention the Las Vegas massacre, as well as other mass shootings like the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which left 20 children and six educators dead. [Yeah, imagine how many fewer would have been murdered had Lanza not used a bumpstock... oh, wait...]

We all saw what happened with Net Neutrality. Welcome to the Oligarchy.

They did the same thing to ban street sweepers

I left unique comments for the BATFE.

bump

pun intended.  SCOTUS news.

Supreme Court strikes down federal ban on bump stocks.  In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on bump stock accessories on firearms.