Firearm Accessories
Solution Needed
Firearms can be made deadlier by adding accessories, specifically bump stocks and high capacity magazines. Both make a firearm fire more rounds than would be possible without the accessory, making it more lethal given there is less opportunity to intervene to stop the shooter. These items are also inexpensive. Extended capacity magazines are frequently used in school and other public mass shootings.
Bump Stocks
A bump stock is a device that allows a semi-automatic firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the recoil energy of the firearm. They were used by the perpetrator of the Las Vegas massacre in 2017 who fired thousands of rounds in minutes and killed 60 people and injured hundreds. After that event, bump stocks were banned in 2018 as a result of regulations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a branch of the Department of Justice.
Consequences of the current law
While there is a regulation banning bump stocks, there is no law that does so. Federal regulations can be rescinded or changed more easily than laws passed by Congress. Changes can be put in motion by a President or US Attorney General and work their way through an administrative process while a federal law is much more difficult to pass, and even more difficult to change once it has been enacted. Courts find it easier to overturn a federal regulation than a federal statute. Consequently some states have banned bump stocks. Maine should be one of them. This would ensure two things. First, even if the ATF regulation banning the possession of bump stocks is removed by a subsequent presidential administration, they would continue to be banned in Maine under state law. Second, it would allow both state and federal prosecutors in Maine to bring cases when someone in the state is found to be in possession of a bump stock.
High Capacity Magazines
A high capacity magazine attaches to a firearm and feeds ammunition into the chamber so more rounds can be fired without reloading than when using a standard magazine, essentially changing the design of a firearm to make its use more lethal. A high capacity magazine is commonly defined as holding more than 10 rounds. A standard high capacity magazine holds 30 rounds. Magazines can hold up to 100 rounds. High capacity magazines are so dangerous that they were banned by Congress in 1994, along with assault weapons, but the ban lapsed in 2004.
Consequences of the current law
Ready access to high capacity magazines has made mass shootings more lethal. They have been used in some of the deadliest shootings in the last decade: in Las Vegas, NV; in Orlando, FL; and, in Dayton, OH (unfortunately naming just a few). They are an accessory of choice in planned criminal activity. High-capacity magazine bans have passed in 14 states in light of data showing that to do so reduces death and injury. In Maine, a proposal to ban high capacity magazines was defeated in legislative committee in 2017. Our legislators need to hear from us that we cannot wait for a tragedy to happen and these deadly accessories do not belong in Maine.