As I understand it, you’ve normally got recoil that drives the stock backward. If you put springs in the stock between the normal recoil and the action of the springs the gun will oscillate back and forth against your trigger finger giving the effect of pulling the trigger without the need to actually do so.
When I was a youngster and .22 ammo was cheap, my friends and I got pretty good at simulating full auto with our Ruger 10/22s. Hold the gun in your “off” hand and fan the trigger with your other index finger. We got good enough to hit a pop can at 25-30 ft. more often than not.
No you don’t. It just takes a lot of practice (and an expensive amount of ammo) to get proficient at it.
Prior to the stocks there were external trigger attachments like Hell Fire that simulated full auto fire. They were perfectly legal but not as easy to use as the stocks.
A rudimentary bump stock can also be made out of a flat piece of wood and a cylindrical piece of wood. The cylindrical piece goes into the trigger guard pushes against the trigger. This hack was the first bump fire method I ever saw, on an AR-15 way back in the mid 80’s.
There is even a quick 'n dirty method using a rubber band.
Fact is, bump fire capability is not going to go away just because a stock is no longer commercially available to the public.
Bump stocks are one of the few legal ways to have a firearm that can :
- Fire at near full automatic cycling rates
- Hit people from the 36th floor a quarter mile way.
With that said, one of the most commonly available firearm, known as the “AR-15”, is extremely similar to the M-16. One of the primary differences is a single metal part, called the sear. It is possible to modify the gun with a drill press and then to fabricate the correct sear that goes in the military version of the M16. Such an act is illegal and is considered manufacturing a machingun by the ATF, however, it is something basically anyone can do with minimal access to resources. (basically, if they can afford an AR-15 at all, they can probably scrap together a few bucks and come up with a way to replace their sear with a full auto version.)
Of course, technically, anyone determined enough can just make entire firearms from metal blanks and readily available small parts. It takes a lot more effort, but with the help of 3d printers, modern video tutorials, and makerspace CNC machines that can be accessed after hours, even if all firearms were totally illegal, a determined enough individual could manufacture an entire machine gun and then use it.
So the essence of the argument is that most crazy people have a limited amount of patience. If they can’t buy a semiautomatic firearm with no waiting period and grab a bump stock via express shipping, but have to actually go out of their way to modify the weapon to accept a full auto sear instead, some crazy people might come to their senses or decide to commit mass murder an easier way. If all guns were illegal and they had to build one piece by piece, the argument is the same.
So to summarize the two positions :
A. Since even a total gun ban wouldn’t stop a person from just manufacturing a new firearm, gun bans are not effective in stopping mass shootings.
B. A higher barrier to entry for firearms capable of mass shootings will reduce the number that are committed, in the same way that banning easy methods of suicide reduces the total number of people who actually commit suicide. (this last bit is supported by evidence)
I think one position has far better support than the other in terms of evidence, but since I’m too tired to produce cites, these are the arguments.
I haven’t looked at mil surplus parts for a long time, but you used to be able to buy an M16 parts kit that included the select fire parts. They will not fit into an AR-15 receiver (without machining it). The M16 receiver is the registered piece of the rifle. Thus someone who had a registered M16 could replace the worn out internal parts if needed. They could not replace a worn out receiver, however, only repair it (weld it, re-machine as needed, etc).
Yep, the full auto parts are still available. Their disclaimer is that the buyer takes responsibility for determining the legality of the purchase.
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/705678306
But, to go along with the constructive possession thread, you could not own the legally obtained select fire parts and a receiver that would hold them without the receiver being registered.
One way to convert an AR-15 to full auto is to use an “auto link”. It only fits an AR-15, it will not work in an M16. They made thousands of them (it’s a really inexpensive stamped metal part) but only registered a few hundred before they were banned. In this case, the full auto registration goes with the auto-link, the opposite of the M16 parts.
Dennis
With the boom in AR sales many/most lowers only need the hole drilled to hold the auto sear. The that last few lowers that I have purchased or seen no longer have the excess metal in them like the old Colt lowers did.
One thing that is not so common however is the full auto bolt carrier needed to make the auto link or lightning link to work. Most bolts that come with rifles use a semi auto carrier, although many people have bought “franken gun” rifles built by everyday joes and found that they had a full auto carrier in their semi auto gun.
You are already wrong - The Bump stock has nothing to do with #2.
To be fair to SamuelA, it was 1 and 2, not 1 or 2.
Anyway - from all indications, the Mandalay Bay shooter had more than enough money to buy fully-auto weapons that are legal to buy. Each one would be about the cost of what he’d drop gambling in one day.
and still wrong either way.
This is a good point. Contrary to popular belief “machine guns” are legal under federal law and in about 40 states, including Nevada. The weapon just needs to be one that was registered by 1986. But if a firearm is taken care of it will last virtually forever.
The ban on newly built auto weapons for civilians is what makes them so expensive. The paperwork and $200 tax stamp is the easy part compared with 20K+ minimum. But it looks like that would have been chump change to this guy.
Other than being a white male he doesn’t seem to fit the description of the average active shooter. This case must have profilers in a bit of a spin.
Wouldn’t it have been a red flag to be trying to buy so many full-auto weapons in a short period of time?
Couldn’t say what the feds would do. I own a sporting goods business with FFL dealership. There is a form for multiple firearm purchases. I’ve yet to have any serious blowback on anyone buying multiple guns. But that’s for standard firearms, not Class 3.
It’s entirely possible that during the paper trail a BATFE agent could have nosed around. But if it’s not illegal what were they going to do about it? Same with “regular” arms. Are you going to put every guy who owns more than one under surveillance?
Because of their expense some people do buy automatic weapons as an investment. One that was $3K just a few years ago now goes for over $18K. As time goes on and less and less are available they become more valuable. There was a push to get rid of the ban on new autos. But thanks to that prick I doubt it will happen any time soon.