Bump-Fires and Similar Devices

Bump-fire devices are just one type of a variety of attachments sold in the United States to increase the rate of fire of semiautomatic firearms to mimic the firepower of a fully automatic machine gun. Many of these devices were not affected by regulations which took effect in 2019 limiting the availability of bump-fires. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is in charge of reviewing such devices to determine whether they enable a firearm to actually function as a machine gun−in which case they are illegal to possess pursuant to the federal ban on the possession by private citizens of machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986. Following legal challenges to the ban, in November 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide on the legality of the ban.

Resources

• VPC Explainer on Bump‐Fires and Similar Devices
• VPC Statement on Bills to Ban “Bump-Fire” and Other Devices That Mimic Full-Auto Fire
• Evidence of Law Enforcement Authorities Recovery of 14 AR-type Assault Rifles Equipped with Bump Stocks From the Las Vegas Mass Shooter’s Hotel Rooms
• ATF Association Letter on Bump-Fire and Similar Devices Explaining the Need for New Statutory Authority
• National Rifle Association Program Listing for “Bump-Fire” Manufacturer Slide Fire From the List of Exhibitors at the Organization’s 2017 Annual Meeting

ATF Opinion Letters on Devices to Increase the Rate of Fire of Semiautomatic Firearms

Below are letters from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on the legality of various bump-fire and other devices designed to enable semiautomatic firearms to mimic fully-automatic machine gun fire.

• Akins Accelerator, June 26, 2008 – Device Approved
  • Akins v. United States – Manufacturer Challenge to ATF Ruling that Device was Prohibited Machine Gun
• Foeller Device, June 18, 2008 – Device Approved
• Slide Fire, June 7, 2010 – Device Approved
• Historic Arms SKS Device, May 25, 2011 – Device Approved
• 3MR Trigger Assembly, October 31, 2013 — Device Approved
• Echo Trigger, November 20, 2013 – Device Approved
• AutoGlove Device, September 11, 2017 – Device Ruled Machine Gun